Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said the tunnelling on the Route 2020 Project, which spans 15 km from Nakheel Harbour and Tower Station up to the site of the Expo 2020, is progressing at a steady pace with more than 50% of the excavation work already completed.
The scope of work includes tunneling of a 3.2km-long stretch at depths varying from 12 to 36 m, while the completion rate of the construction of stations ranges from four to 42%, said the statement from RTA.
A giant tunnel boring machine ‘Al Wugeisha Expo 2020’ began drilling work at Al Furjan and has now gone past the Discovery Gardens and reached the underground station nearby Jumeirah Golf Estates, last February, it stated.
It will continue tunnelling work up to the Dubai Investment Park and all the tunnel-related work is scheduled for completion in December this year, it added.
Mattar Al Tayer, director general and chairman of the board of executive directors of the RTA, said: “Currently, the architectural, constructional and electromechanical designs are being developed for the Expo Station, the elevated and underground stations, and the Nakheel Harbour and Tower Station. The completion rate of the underground station at Jumeirah Golf Estates has reached 42% whereas at DIP it has reached 8%.”
Al Tayer was also briefed about the work progress in the metro stations. The completion rate has reached 14% in the elevated station at Al Furjan, 12% at the Discovery Gardens, 7% in Expo Station, and 3% in Nakheel Harbour and Tower Station.
The completion rate has reached 50% in the deep foundations of the Nakheel Harbour and Tower Station. The footbridge linking the station and the Park-N-Ride Terminal has been removed to start construction work in the new statio, said Al Tayer.
The project contractor has completed construction work in the deep foundations and pillars at the Gardens area. Work is currently underway on fabricating the metal structures of the elevated station at the Discovery Gardens, where the completion rate has reached 35%, he added.
Construction works on the viaducts are expected to be completed by November 2018, while all the rail works of Route 2020 will be ready in 2019. The RTA will start the test-run of the metro in February 2020, he added.