WINNER GCC CADILLAC TRANSPORT PROJECT OF THE YEAR

UAE

Dubai Metro Red Line

Entrant/client: Roads & Transport Authority – Rail Agency

Contractor: DURL Consortium

Engineers: Systra, Parsons

Architects/designers: Atkins, Aedas

Description: With 72.1 kilometres of track (including the Green Line), the Dubai Metro is the longest driverless system in the world. Trains, stations and footbridges are fully air conditioned and platforms are equipped with safety screen doors. Innovative techniques applied during construction included the use of precast elements for the tunnel segments and for a large part of the viaduct. A top-down construction method was utilised for underground stations and the use of tunnel-boring machines minimised disruption to Dubai traffic. Energy-saving escalators and walkways conserve power and trains use regenerative energy from the braking system. In the stations, the glazing minimises up to 80 per cent of ultraviolet light from the sun and the rooftop is energy efficient. The metro is currently reducing carbon dioxide emissions in the city by more than 5,500 kilogrammes a day (kg/d). In the next five years, emissions are expected to be reduced by 75,000kg/d.

Bahrain

Khalifa bin Salman Port and Industrial Area at Hidd

Entrant/client: Ministry of Works

Main contractors: Boskalis Westminster Middle East, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, AA Nass Contracting, Olympic Construction Company, Moh’d Jalal Contracting Company, Ahmed Mansoor al-A’ali Company, BSC, Bokhowa Group

Architects/designers: Royal Haskoning, ACE Almoayed Consulting Engineers

Description: Khalifa bin Salman Port and Industrial Area marks a new era of sophisticated port management. Situated in the northeast of Bahrain, within 5 kilometres of the International airport and with efficient road links to the King Fahd Causeway, the project has significantly improved transport infrastructure to Upper Gulf markets. The new port has quadrupled the capacity of the 50-year-old Mina Salman Port it replaces. It is designed primarily as a container port able to handle more than 1.1 million 20-foot units a year. It also provides facilities to accommodate passenger ships, general break-bulk and roll-on/roll-off cargo vessels. The industrial area is a mixed-use development to encourage investors. It has the potential to accommodate more than 25,000 people. Construction of the port and industrial area has taken more than 10 years. Its design is based on advanced modern architecture and technology, with provision for future expansion. Locally produced construction materials were used wherever possible.

UAE

New Garhoud Bridge

Entrant: Six Construct

Client: Roads & Transport Authority

Contractors: Halcrow

Description: Traffic congestion in Dubai was significantly decreased when the new Garhoud Bridge opened in 2008. The bridge also eased maritime traffic by allowing continuous passage of water-borne vessels. The quality of Dubai Creek’s water was greatly improved due to the removal of the old bridge’s intermediate island, which was obstructing the natural tidal flow. The project required marine works specialists, who focused in particular on the construction of the temporary cofferdam. Support from the traffic department was also crucial to the project’s success. While work was under way, traffic management was required as the new bridge was incorporated into the existing road network. The construction programme was extremely tight, taking just two years. To stay on schedule, the contractor had to simultaneously work on dismantling the old structure and building the new bridge.

Kuwait

Sheikh Saad General Aviation Terminal

Entrant: United Projects Company for aviation services

Client: Directorate of General Civil Aviation

Developer: Royal Aviation Company

Contractor: Ahmadiah Contracting & Trading Company, Bader Al Mulla & Bros and Hitatchi, Vanderlande Industries and Hitatchi

Consultants: Gulf Consult and Mott MacDonald

Description: Sheikh Saad General Aviation Terminal is the private terminal facility of Kuwait International airport. Undertaken as a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract, the project was completed at the end of 2010. The Sheikh Saad Terminal is the first of its kind in Kuwait and one of the country’s landmark projects, covering 130,000 square metres. It is fully equipped to handle all types of private and commercial aircraft and is designed to provide the highest possible level of service to passengers. The overall time frame for the BOT contract was less than 15 years. Consequently, the project team worked against tight deadlines at every stage of the design process. The architectural theme of the project uses a steel frame structural system linked with extensive glass cladding to depict the curve of an aircraft wing.