No. 20.

10 August 2010 Infrastructure Project

Sika at Work

Metro Dubai
The Largest Driverless Metro in the World with
Sikas Concrete Technologies

Innovation & since

Consistency 1 9 1 0
Metro Dubai
by Bastian Bicher, Corporate Product Engineer Concrete, Sika Services AG and Hazem Kanan, Business Unit Manager Concrete, Sika UAE
Project Description
The Dubai Metro is a driverless, fully automated metro network that
will already be the largest in the world, at over 70 kilometres, when the
second Green Line of the four planned lines is fully open in 2011.
The phased opening schedule began with the inauguration of the first
phase of the Red Line in September 2009 and additional line and
station openings will continue until 2020 and the full 320 km network
is completed.
These first two lines that are nearing completion have elevated sections
for 58.7 km and underground sections in tunnels for 12.6 km.
The tunnels were created with Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) and lined
with more than 53,000 precast concrete tubbing segments, produced
with more than 130,000 m of high performance concrete.
The elevated sections were built using prestressed segmental bridge
construction techniques, from huge precast concrete units approxi-
mately 10 m wide by 4 m long and weighing more than 80 tonnes
each. The 17,000 precast units required more than 700,000 m of high
performance concrete.
Project Requirements
Tunnel Tubbing
The tunnel tubbing segments had to be produced in an automated
process including steam curing in order to meet the rapid delivery
requirements. The concrete quality and surface finish had to meet high
specifications, plus to maintain the required production rates; a high
early strength in excess of 10 MPa within 12 hours was demanded.
Bridge Elements
The large precast bridge units had additional uniform visual appearance
demands, plus the concrete had to maintain a high slump of over
150mm with good consistence, for more than an hour; followed by
early strength development to facilitate these units rapid handling and
erection.
The ultimate compressive strength for these units was specified to be
70 MPa and this had to be reached with a low water : cement ratio
< 0.29 to provide the required long term durability.
Diaphragm Walls and Underground Stations
The total concrete volume for the construction of the diaphragm walls
and underground stations added up to approximately 150000 m for
the Red Line and 220000 m for the Green Line. The most chal-
lenging requirement regarding these concrete mixes was the extended
workability of the fresh concrete of 3 to 4 hours. The long transporta-
tion time was caused by the expected traffic jams in the vicinity of the
construction sites and the two transfer stations.
Sika Solutions
Sikas Concrete Technologists worked closely with the project engi-
neers to execute an extensive testing programme and develop special
concrete mix designs for both the tunnel tubbing segments and the
segmental bridge units.
frequently in excess of 35 C) and other compatible Sika Admixture
Technologies, to meet or exceed all of the Precast Concrete Producers
and the Project Consulting Engineers requirements on this prestige
project.

For the tubbing segments a slump of 150 mm for over one hour, follo- The solution for the diaphragm walls and underground stations was
wed by high early strength development to over 10 MPa was achieved, the application of Sika ViscoCrete-3110 with an extra-ordinary low
which allowed the production cycle to be repeated twice a day, effec- dosage of approximateIy 1.1 % by weight of total binder.
tively doubling normal production rates.

The concrete mix design for the large segmented bridge units was Sika Products
adapted to maintain an extremely high slump of 215 mm for over an nS
 ikament NN, Sikament NNS
hour, even at the specified < 0.29 water : cement ratio. This ensur- summer products used for via ducts
ed excellent flow and compaction around the congested steel rein-  ikament NN, Sikament NNS
nS
forcement, plus minimal surface pores and resulting in the desired summer products used for tunnel segments
uniform surface finish and excellent visual appearance.  ika ViscoCrete-3110
nS
used for diaphragm walls and underground stations
All of these concrete mix designs for the project were achieved using  ikament R4QV and Sikament R4QVCD
nS
Sikament NN (Sikament NNS in the very high summer temperatures, used for piling and in situ concrete
Conclusion
The Dubai Metro will be a great step forward to improve the transportation
system of one of the worlds fastest growing cities. Despite the above
mentioned concrete types, all the other concretes delivered by Arabian
Mix are produced with Sika admixtures, namely Sikament R4QV and
Sikament R4QV CD. This means Sika provides a concrete admixture
system that is covering the whole range of concrete grades and technical
Participants
Contractor (Civil Work): Obayashi / Kajima / Yapi Merkezi
Contractor (Via Ducts): V.F.R J.V - VSL, Freyssinet,
Rizzani De Eccher
Contractor (Tunnel Segments): ACPI - Associated Concrete
Products Industries
Rail System: Mitsubishi Corporation /
Sika Services AG / BU Concrete / SAW / Infratsructure Projects / CMS /gho / 08.2010

requirements. Finally Sika UAE, being the sole supplier of 14000 tonnes of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
concrete admixtures is an important and reliable partner for this ambitious Consultant: Systra/Parsons
construction project. Ready Mix: Arabian Ready Mix (Al Ghurair Group)

Sika Services AG Our most current General Sales Conditions shall apply.
Corporate Business Unit Concrete Please consult the Product Data Sheet prior to any use and processing.
Tffenwies 16
CH-8048 Zrich
Switzerland
Phone +41 58 436 40 40
Fax +41 58 436 41 50
www.sika.com