Route 2020 tunnelling work will finish in December: RTA
dubai — Half of the main tunnelling works on the Route 2020 project are now complete, thanks to a special burrowing machine, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced.
All tunnel-related works will be complete in December 2018. The tunnels extend 3.2km at varying depth from 12 to 36metres, said Mattar Al Tayer, the RTA’s director general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors.
The giant tunnel boring machine, known as ‘Al Wugeisha Expo 2020,’ commenced drilling works at Al Furjan, passed across the Discovery Gardens and reached the underground station near Jumeirah Golf Estates in February. It will continue tunnelling up to the Dubai Investment Park (DIP).
Al Wugeisha, with a huge metal gear supported by an automated tail, can crush stones and penetrate through sandy layers or any soil components encountered. At the front, it has a cutting wheel with a cavity that varies according to the type of drilling and soil layers. The single concrete ring has six to seven molds, with each ring about 1.5m in diameter.
The Dubai Metro stations on Route 2020 line, which spans 15km from Nakheel Harbour and Tower Station to the Expo site, have reached up to 42 per cent completion rates.
The Jumeirah Golf Estates underground station is 42 per cent complete, whereas DIP is 8 per cent done. The elevated stations are Al Furjan, Discovery Gardens, Expo Station, Nakheel Harbour and Tower Stations, 14, 12, 7 and 3 per cent complete respectively.
Construction for the deep foundations and pillars at the Gardens area is also complete. Casting reinforced concrete for the foundations and pillars for the main building of Expo station is also nearly complete.
The first of the new Metro carriages will arrive in July this year, and all Route 2020 rail works will be complete in July next year. Its test run will begin in February 2020.