Day 14/15: Burj al Salam & Kingdom of Sheeba site visits and e-construct office visit

Today was our first split site visit with team 1 (ACME engineering) visiting the Burj al Salam and team 2 (Prestige Worldwide Engineers) visiting the Kingdom of Sheeba.

The Burj al Salam is a mixed-use development comprised of three different towers built as one: a residential tower, an office tower, and a Sheraton Hotel along with a parking garage attached with bridges. Presently the substructure (foundation) and superstructure (structural concrete above the ground) are complete and they are working on internal finishes and external finishes. This building is very unique due to the fact that the three towers are built together as one and also because of how DCC began work on the project. DCC was not the original contractor, but they took over the construction when the building had already reach the sixth floor. The client and previous contractor terminated the contract due to disagreements.

For the first day on site we received a tour of the entire building including all three towers and the parking structure. The tour was conducted by DCC employee and former DSIP intern Ryan Bistany. We were first given a site overview by project manager Mr. Mazen and safety overview by safety officer Mr. Riyad. We then proceeded with the site tour by traveling in a hoist (temporary outside elevator) to the 54th floor. Ryan brought us down a few floors at a time explaining to us the different features in the building that we were seeing.

 

For the second day on site we got to do some hands on work including building a block wall, applying plaster to a wall, and installing floor tiles. We all took turns in different parts of the process and worked up a really good sweat. The block walls were constructed by looking at the construction drawings and putting lines on the concrete slab to establish the wall location. We then put mortar and the lightweight concrete blocks together with mesh reinforcement between the layers. For the wall plaster, we used a spaying mixture to spray the plaster onto the wall. For the tiling, we learned how to screed out the black sand mixture that they use as a base for the tiles and then finally the cement glue coat and the tiles. We also learned how to cut the tiles.

Team 2 (PWE) visited the Kingdom of Sheba project, which is located on the Palm Jumeraih. The original Kingdom of Sheba was an ancient kingdom thought to be located in Yeman. This entire project was inspired by the kingdom and the architecture in Yeman. The entire project encompasses 34 villas and a 12 story building with apartments. The first day on site, we took a construction tour with the project manager Mr. Pat Doyle. We saw a finished mock up villa, and a part of the 12 story tower. From the roof of the main block, we could see an amazing view of the palm. At the end of the tour, we were able to get some hands on experience with false stone plastering. We learned the economic benefits and the process of plastering and carving false stones.

On the second day, we began a site project. Pat Doyle explained that a major connection to the main sewage line is missing, and that DCC has to create the connection. After being briefed on the issue, Mr. Doyle took us to the site where we saw the on-site manhole and the main manhole they have to connect to. We then had to create a method statement; including a description of works, traffic plan, and risk assessment. This activity gave us real world experience and showed us how much detailed work has to go into even the smallest projects.