Raising the roof

The shadows get longer, as the lift is postponed.
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There was a time when the great iron and steel spans of buildings such as railway terminals and exhibition centres had to be winched up piece by piece and bolted in place by men with no fear of heights – or regard for their own safety.

These days modern machinery and know-how make the job a lot easier, or at least that is the theory.

On a hot and windy afternoon, we are on a site near Abu Dhabi airport, where the new VIP terminal is being built. The main room in this complex is a large, rambling area, complemented by a domed tower in one corner.

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The entire roof structure though, has been built in situ, but on the floor. The plan for today is to raise this vast structure from the ground and into position by using a sequence of massive jacks.

However, there is a saying about the best laid plans. On arrival, workers are still scurrying about, seemingly fitting air conditioning ducts to the structure, which currently is sitting on temporary I-beam piers, about a metre off the deck.

This seems to be a sensible plan – after all, why would they attempt to do this when the beams are several storeys high? In fact, this should have been done some time ago.

Posters have been advising of the time of the roof lift for ages, and in any case, the project has a tight schedule – the whole basic structure is supposed to be completed just three weeks after our visit.

But, two hours after the lift was supposed to begin, the ducting still isn’t ready. Still, this gave us the chance to find out a bit more about the project, as well as the lift itself. The VIP terminal is part of the ‘Presidential Flight’ unit of Abu Dhabi airport.

Developed by Aldar on behalf of the government, the project has Merco and Six Construction working in a joint venture as the lead contracting team.