Main contractor Al Shafar General Contracting Co. has celebrated topping out the 52-storey twin towers Al Kazim Commercial and Office building on Dubai’s Sheik Zayed Road between interchanges 4 and 5 and is on schedule to meet a ‘fast track’ completion date of just 22 months.
Craneage duties are being provided by five Liebherr luffing jib cranes supplied by the company’s local distributor INMA. Like many projects in Dubai space on-site is a premium with the building’s footprint taking up virtually the entire 180 m x 70 m site, leaving little room for storage of materials.
It was the space restrictions which helped Al Shafar General Contracting opt for the Liebherr luffing jibs concept for site lifting duties. With recent legislation forbidding the use of crane jibs encroaching outside the sites perimeter, the Liebherrs provided the solution.
“With major service roads running alongside two of the boundaries and the other two bordering major construction sites, we had no hesitation in opting for the Liebherr cranes to provide an essential part of the answer to the very tight constraints faced in terms of space,” says Wadih El Chaer.
He continues, “These twin crane installations on each tower and the podium structure have been a vitally important part of the job and the only way to carry it out with the restricted space just metres from each boundary.”
Concrete is pumped from the ground and the cranes are used for a variety of handling duties including concrete, rebar and throughout striking and repositioning the formwork systems.
All five Liebherr cranes are able to slew through 360° with a radius of just 8 m. The 112 HC-L model features a maximum lifting capacity of 12,000 kg lift at the maximum jib radius of 55 m.
The HC-L series of Liebherr luffing jib cranes have been designed for work on particularly high buildings or in extremely restricted spaces.
They enjoy special advantages on small construction sites with several cranes and overlapping work areas due to their small slewing radius and raised jib position from 150° – 70° even when shut down.
“By the end of March, when we begin to construct typical floors, we anticipate reducing this further to just five days,” confirms Wadih El Chaer.
The Al Kazim towers project features three basement levels, a ground floor and an eight storey podium plus two 52-storey towers rising 44 floors above the podium to a height of 203 m.
Rising above the towers two aesthetically-designed extensions will ‘top out’ at 265 m.
The basement and podium levels will include parking for almost 2500 cars.
“From day one we knew this was going to be ‘fast track’ working 24 hours and it has not slowed down,” says Project Manager, Wadih El Chaer, adding, “The Liebherr cranes have played a key role in helping us to stay on schedule.”
