On Monday, June 6th, both teams visited the sewage treatment plant (STP) located in Dubai Motor City which provides odor control, waste water treatment and sludge treatment on incoming sewage for the emirate of Dubai. The STP is open top (exposed to the atmosphere during treatment) and has a capacity of 8000 m3 per day.
The wastewater treatment process consists of preliminary, secondary/primary and final phases. Preliminary treatment begins as raw wastewater is pumped from the lifting station to a 6 mm coarse screen, grit and grease removal system and 1 mm fine screen. The preliminary phases serve primarily to separate large particles from the raw wastewater. To ensure nitrification and denitrification, the wastewater is pumped into an anoxic tank where it is mixed without oxygen and then pumped into an aerobic tank where it is mixed with oxygen.
The wastewater is subject to secondary treatment within the membrane bioreactor (MBR). The open top membrane bioreactor is the core clarification, aeration and treatment system in the plant.
The Zenon MBR system includes an aerobic tank and membrane tank containing 0.1-micron-pore hollow-fiber membranes. The open top MBR produces effluent in accordance to water quality standards set by Dubai Municipalities. The MBR handles the discharge of treated wastewater, disinfection, nitrogen reduction and phosphorus removal of the water. The final treated wastewater product is appropriate for re-use for irrigation of city landscapes and other acceptable applications.
Dubai Motor City STP provides an invaluable service to the city of Dubai. Clean water is a scarce commodity in the arid region of Dubai; therefore proper wastewater treatment methods are crucial in maintaining sufficient quality of life.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Abu Dhabi Visit (Team 1)
Today we visited the ADNEC tower in Abu Dhabi. The ADNEC, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center, tower is a residential building which has one, two and three-bedroom apartments, duplexes and penthouses. There are 267 apartments in total. The entire building has four basements levels, a ground level, two mezzanine levels 21 stories, a roof and an upper roof. The tower as a whole measures 100m. The four basement levels are the parking area, which have 418 proposed parking spaces. ADNEC tower has a built-up area of 60,000 m2 and a project cost of AED 216 million. The duration of the project is 22 months but currently the project is 75 days ahead on the concrete work. The tower has a raft foundation that varies in thickness from one to three meters. There are tension piles under the south and west sides of the building. The weight on the east side of the building needs to be balanced out on the west side. The tension piles even this weight distribution out. The slabs in the building are post tensioned. This requires conduits to be put in the slab and strands pulled through the conduits. These strands are
tensioned after the concrete has began to cure.
ADNEC was an extremely clean site and we were all very impressed. DCC has stressed to us the importance of a clean and orderly site and their persistence has paid off as the project is about 2 months ahead of schedule.
On Tuesday June 7th, the team went back to Abu Dhabi to the ADNEC tower. Mr. Superman, the project manager, gave us another tour of the building and then took us to the upper floors to view the concrete curing and the post-tensioning. Anthony El Khoury then went up the tower crane along with the safety officer to view how the crane operator works.
After lunch at Holiday Inn Hotel, Mr. Jihad Choueiri took the team to a completed site, the Guardian Towers, on which he was the project manager. It was designed by ERGA Progress, DCC's partners. The towers have 17 floors, 2 podium floors, and 4 basements. The towers only share the podium and basement floors, and one of them is a residential tower with 208 apartments, and the other is an office tower.
Mr. Choueiri then showed us the finishes in each tower. He told us the tile names and type of finish in the office lift lobby, the residential lift lobby and apartments, and the basement parking area. One of the unique aspects of this project was the exterior cladding, which was all angled and required eact dimensions to place the aluminum.
tensioned after the concrete has began to cure.
ADNEC was an extremely clean site and we were all very impressed. DCC has stressed to us the importance of a clean and orderly site and their persistence has paid off as the project is about 2 months ahead of schedule.
On Tuesday June 7th, the team went back to Abu Dhabi to the ADNEC tower. Mr. Superman, the project manager, gave us another tour of the building and then took us to the upper floors to view the concrete curing and the post-tensioning. Anthony El Khoury then went up the tower crane along with the safety officer to view how the crane operator works.
After lunch at Holiday Inn Hotel, Mr. Jihad Choueiri took the team to a completed site, the Guardian Towers, on which he was the project manager. It was designed by ERGA Progress, DCC's partners. The towers have 17 floors, 2 podium floors, and 4 basements. The towers only share the podium and basement floors, and one of them is a residential tower with 208 apartments, and the other is an office tower.
Mr. Choueiri then showed us the finishes in each tower. He told us the tile names and type of finish in the office lift lobby, the residential lift lobby and apartments, and the basement parking area. One of the unique aspects of this project was the exterior cladding, which was all angled and required eact dimensions to place the aluminum.
Lunch at Atlantis
The LAU students went to the Atlantis on Friday June 3, 2011. We were so excited when we arrived at 10:30 am. It was too crowded, so we did not found any place where we can put our towels and bags, but fortunately after 30 minutes of searching we were able to put our stuff on the beach. We really enjoyed water games. The water park is very huge so that we got lost sometimes and we spent time to search each other!! We had a delicious lunch at Shark pites.
Tuesday, June 7th (Team 1)
On Tuesday, June 7th, our team went to the Kingdom of Sheba and the Fairmont Hotel, both of which are located on the Palm Jumeirah. The Kingdom of Sheba is a large development that includes the Balquis Residence, the Heritage Place, and 34 free standing villas. The Balquis will consist of apartments and penthouses and the Heritage will consist of residential space. The Balquis and the villas are currently under construction. We were able to see a mock-up in one of the villas—they are absolutely amazing! Each penthouse and villa has a hot tub and a pool.
Then, we went to the Fairmont Palm Hotel and Resort. The building includes a basement, a beach floor, an entrance floor, and 14 additional floors. The same client owns both the Kingdom of Sheba and the Fairmont Hotel. The building includes a ball room, restaurants, lounges, and pools. The upper floors of the building hold penthouses with stunning views of the Palm and the Dubai skyline.
We then returned to the office. Mr. Ian Harper, DCC’s Contract Director, gave us a lecture about contract management. He explained the meaning of delays and disputes and their causes. The lecture included many real life examples which made the impact of delays and disputes on the progress of any project clearer. Mr. Harper also explained that delays could be caused either by the client or by the contractor.
Then, the lecture went on to explain extensions of time. In summary, extensions of time are extensions of the working contract period in which the contractor should have completed the works. They are usually governed by strict clauses to avoid the contract completion being fully discarded and the contractor’s obligation being reduced to completing the project within a reasonable amount of time.
At the end, there was an explanation about the methods of dispute resolution which ranges from negotiation to litigation and arbitration. Mr. Harper advised us not to go to arbitration because it is a lengthy process which consumes time and money.
This lecture was the third and final part of the lectures that were presented by Mr. Ian Harper and we would like to thank him for making it possible for us to learn more about construction management from an expert’s point of view.
Balquis Residence
Villas at the Kingdom of Sheba
View of the Palm from Fairmont Hotel penthouse
Then, we went to the Fairmont Palm Hotel and Resort. The building includes a basement, a beach floor, an entrance floor, and 14 additional floors. The same client owns both the Kingdom of Sheba and the Fairmont Hotel. The building includes a ball room, restaurants, lounges, and pools. The upper floors of the building hold penthouses with stunning views of the Palm and the Dubai skyline.
We then returned to the office. Mr. Ian Harper, DCC’s Contract Director, gave us a lecture about contract management. He explained the meaning of delays and disputes and their causes. The lecture included many real life examples which made the impact of delays and disputes on the progress of any project clearer. Mr. Harper also explained that delays could be caused either by the client or by the contractor.
Then, the lecture went on to explain extensions of time. In summary, extensions of time are extensions of the working contract period in which the contractor should have completed the works. They are usually governed by strict clauses to avoid the contract completion being fully discarded and the contractor’s obligation being reduced to completing the project within a reasonable amount of time.
At the end, there was an explanation about the methods of dispute resolution which ranges from negotiation to litigation and arbitration. Mr. Harper advised us not to go to arbitration because it is a lengthy process which consumes time and money.
This lecture was the third and final part of the lectures that were presented by Mr. Ian Harper and we would like to thank him for making it possible for us to learn more about construction management from an expert’s point of view.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Burj Al Salam-Team 2 (Engineers of Tomorrow)
Team 2 went to Salam Tower for three days as well, while Team 1 went to the Conrad Hotel and Abu Dhabi. Salam Tower is a mix-use building with three different towers all connected. They include residential, hotel, and office building and will also contain retail areas on the first couple floors. The first day we went on the roof and looked at the reinforcement in the post-tension slab before they poured it. And also saw how they use the machine to do the actual post-tensioning of a slab. On the roof we also saw reinforcement for the circular and rectangular columns. Inside the building we were able to see the gypsum walls and how they insulate them.
The second day we learned all of the details of laying block work. In Salam, they use a special lightweight block that is easy to break and saw through. First thing we did was draw the layout of one of the residential rooms on the concrete floor. It proved to be harder than it looked to have all of the correct dimensions and straight lines. Next, we went up to another floor and learned how to lay the blocks. The first thing you do is either put mesh of a fishtail on the wall depending on the level they alternate. Then you use mortar if a block is being laid on top of a block, but if it is touching concrete you must use both special lightweight mortar a rougher one. We were all able to shoot the gun to put the fishtail in place and every other aspect of block work from layout to aligning the blocks.
On the third day we got a more in depth tour of the residential tower and the steel car park. We watched the workers do fireproofing on the steel structure. On the roof of the car park will be a gym and roof and we watched them put this structure together as well as the casting of the roof slab. Ryan, who was an intern last year is now a site engineer on the project and took us on a brief tour where he showed many details of finishes that will be in the hotel and residential areas. We saw the beginning of mock up rooms which are built for the client to visualize what the rooms will look like. Our team greatly enjoyed our experience on this site and took away valuable information for our future.
The second day we learned all of the details of laying block work. In Salam, they use a special lightweight block that is easy to break and saw through. First thing we did was draw the layout of one of the residential rooms on the concrete floor. It proved to be harder than it looked to have all of the correct dimensions and straight lines. Next, we went up to another floor and learned how to lay the blocks. The first thing you do is either put mesh of a fishtail on the wall depending on the level they alternate. Then you use mortar if a block is being laid on top of a block, but if it is touching concrete you must use both special lightweight mortar a rougher one. We were all able to shoot the gun to put the fishtail in place and every other aspect of block work from layout to aligning the blocks.
On the third day we got a more in depth tour of the residential tower and the steel car park. We watched the workers do fireproofing on the steel structure. On the roof of the car park will be a gym and roof and we watched them put this structure together as well as the casting of the roof slab. Ryan, who was an intern last year is now a site engineer on the project and took us on a brief tour where he showed many details of finishes that will be in the hotel and residential areas. We saw the beginning of mock up rooms which are built for the client to visualize what the rooms will look like. Our team greatly enjoyed our experience on this site and took away valuable information for our future.
Syracuse University Interns Head to India
DAY 1
On Thursday, the SU interns landed in Delhi, India. We met our tour guide, Karan, at the airport and got on a tourist bus to begin our 6-hour drive to Agra. It’s safe to say that we experienced some culture shock from we what saw on the first day. The traffic in Delhi was complete chaos, and it seemed as if no one was following traffic laws. Over the next six hours, we witnessed a large amount of poverty. It was depressing to see people living in these conditions and the extent to which they were lacking basic human necessities. We saw many places where people lived in shacks made of whatever they could find, and they had no clean drinking water. It was truly an eye-opening experience to see the differences between a developed place like Dubai and an underdeveloped one like India. Although many of the things we saw were difficult to witness, it was a great cultural experience to have in our lives. We all spent much of the ride sleeping, but once we arrived in Agra, we checked-in at the Gateway Hotel.
Our main reason for visiting Agra was to see the Taj Mahal. Upon entering the gates to one of the Seven Wonders of the World, we saw one of the most beautiful buildings ever built. Our tour guide continued to recite facts about the history and construction of the Taj Mahal. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died while giving birth to their 14th child. The construction of this mausoleum employed thousands of workers and took 22 years to complete. As studying civil engineers, we were all impressed with the perfection and detail of this engineering feat that was built with 15th-century technology. We picked a good time to visit because we were there as the sun was setting.
Afterwards, we returned to the hotel to go dinner at an Indian Restaurant. We all ate until we were full. We spent the rest of our evening bartering at shops in the lobby of the hotel and relaxing in our rooms to prepare for our trip back to Delhi in the morning.
DAY 2
In the morning, we had a breakfast buffet at the Gateway Hotel and boarded the bus for our long drive from Agra to Delhi. After arriving in Delhi, we went to the Qutab Minar Complex. This complex includes several of monuments and buildings that initially served as ancient Hindu temples. The main tower on the complex, Qutab Minar, is the tallest brick minaret in the world, and has five distinct levels with balconies. Looking up the tower, each level tapers off, starting with a diameter of 15 meters at the base, but ending at 3 meters diameter. Our tour guide showed us up the steps outside of the Qutab Minar, but we could not continue any further because there was a precautionary drill taking place. As tourists, we were ushered down the steps, outside of the Qutab Minar. We waited outside the tower for a few minutes and took a few group pictures with the minaret in the background, but quickly split up because the locals were also taking pictures of us.
After getting lunch at the Rendezvous Café nearby, we went to Humayun’s Tomb. This site holds the remains of Mogul Emperor Humayun and members of his family. We walked through a set of buildings before reaching the main tomb of Emperor Humayun. This building strikingly resembles the Taj Mahal, and was built before it. The Taj Mahal included changes that were needed in Humayun’s Tomb to improve the structure of the Taj Mahal.
After Humayun’s Tomb, we traveled to the downtown area of Delhi to take photos of the government buildings of India. We saw the Parliament building that includes the upper and lower house, as well as the Indian Air Force building, and the President’s Palace in the distance. It was interesting to see members of the Indian military roaming the area with rifles, at locations still relatively far from the major government buildings. Also, the tour guide told us that the President of India just serves as a face for the world and does not have any authoritative power. However, this protection is probably similar to what we have in the United States, even though we may have been intimidated in India.
To conclude our tour for the day, we visited a Hindu temple, Shri Lakshmi Narain Temple. We had to take off our shoes and were not allowed to bring in our cameras or cell phones, unless we paid the fee. We learned about the different Hindu gods, including Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, among others. The different gods are regarded in different respects based on importance and power.
Once the tour of the Temple concluded, we boarded the bus for the Shangri La Hotel in New Delhi. This five-star hotel had a magnificent entryway, different restaurants on the upper floors, and a pool on the ground level with a green landscape background. We went to dinner at a restaurant the served Asian cuisine. We selected the Chinese menú for the entire table, and we were able to sample various appetizers, meals, and desserts off of the prepared menu. After dinner, we all relaxed for the rest of the night and tried to get some sleep for our third and final day in India.
DAY3
Saturday was our last day in India. We awoke early in order to make the most of the day. We ate breakfast at the buffet provided by the hotel. We left the hotel around 8:30am and headed to Rajghat, the final resting place of Gandhi’s remains. The grounds had a large amount of grassland and vegetation. Shoes were not allowed as a sign of respect.
We made our way across town to Old Delhi and the Islamic Mosque. This mosque was a local prayer center. The men had to cover their legs and females had to cover all skin. This provided a good opportunity for a picture. Instead of white marble of the Taj Mahal the mosque was constructed from red sandstone. It had an open courtyard which would fill up during prayer hours. The courtyard stone got quite hot in the Indian sun, burning our feet as we walked around. Once again as we lined up the take pictures, locals quickly snapped pictures of our group.
On Thursday, the SU interns landed in Delhi, India. We met our tour guide, Karan, at the airport and got on a tourist bus to begin our 6-hour drive to Agra. It’s safe to say that we experienced some culture shock from we what saw on the first day. The traffic in Delhi was complete chaos, and it seemed as if no one was following traffic laws. Over the next six hours, we witnessed a large amount of poverty. It was depressing to see people living in these conditions and the extent to which they were lacking basic human necessities. We saw many places where people lived in shacks made of whatever they could find, and they had no clean drinking water. It was truly an eye-opening experience to see the differences between a developed place like Dubai and an underdeveloped one like India. Although many of the things we saw were difficult to witness, it was a great cultural experience to have in our lives. We all spent much of the ride sleeping, but once we arrived in Agra, we checked-in at the Gateway Hotel.
Afterwards, we returned to the hotel to go dinner at an Indian Restaurant. We all ate until we were full. We spent the rest of our evening bartering at shops in the lobby of the hotel and relaxing in our rooms to prepare for our trip back to Delhi in the morning.
DAY 2
In the morning, we had a breakfast buffet at the Gateway Hotel and boarded the bus for our long drive from Agra to Delhi. After arriving in Delhi, we went to the Qutab Minar Complex. This complex includes several of monuments and buildings that initially served as ancient Hindu temples. The main tower on the complex, Qutab Minar, is the tallest brick minaret in the world, and has five distinct levels with balconies. Looking up the tower, each level tapers off, starting with a diameter of 15 meters at the base, but ending at 3 meters diameter. Our tour guide showed us up the steps outside of the Qutab Minar, but we could not continue any further because there was a precautionary drill taking place. As tourists, we were ushered down the steps, outside of the Qutab Minar. We waited outside the tower for a few minutes and took a few group pictures with the minaret in the background, but quickly split up because the locals were also taking pictures of us.
After getting lunch at the Rendezvous Café nearby, we went to Humayun’s Tomb. This site holds the remains of Mogul Emperor Humayun and members of his family. We walked through a set of buildings before reaching the main tomb of Emperor Humayun. This building strikingly resembles the Taj Mahal, and was built before it. The Taj Mahal included changes that were needed in Humayun’s Tomb to improve the structure of the Taj Mahal.
After Humayun’s Tomb, we traveled to the downtown area of Delhi to take photos of the government buildings of India. We saw the Parliament building that includes the upper and lower house, as well as the Indian Air Force building, and the President’s Palace in the distance. It was interesting to see members of the Indian military roaming the area with rifles, at locations still relatively far from the major government buildings. Also, the tour guide told us that the President of India just serves as a face for the world and does not have any authoritative power. However, this protection is probably similar to what we have in the United States, even though we may have been intimidated in India.
To conclude our tour for the day, we visited a Hindu temple, Shri Lakshmi Narain Temple. We had to take off our shoes and were not allowed to bring in our cameras or cell phones, unless we paid the fee. We learned about the different Hindu gods, including Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma, among others. The different gods are regarded in different respects based on importance and power.
Once the tour of the Temple concluded, we boarded the bus for the Shangri La Hotel in New Delhi. This five-star hotel had a magnificent entryway, different restaurants on the upper floors, and a pool on the ground level with a green landscape background. We went to dinner at a restaurant the served Asian cuisine. We selected the Chinese menú for the entire table, and we were able to sample various appetizers, meals, and desserts off of the prepared menu. After dinner, we all relaxed for the rest of the night and tried to get some sleep for our third and final day in India.
DAY3
Saturday was our last day in India. We awoke early in order to make the most of the day. We ate breakfast at the buffet provided by the hotel. We left the hotel around 8:30am and headed to Rajghat, the final resting place of Gandhi’s remains. The grounds had a large amount of grassland and vegetation. Shoes were not allowed as a sign of respect.
We made our way across town to Old Delhi and the Islamic Mosque. This mosque was a local prayer center. The men had to cover their legs and females had to cover all skin. This provided a good opportunity for a picture. Instead of white marble of the Taj Mahal the mosque was constructed from red sandstone. It had an open courtyard which would fill up during prayer hours. The courtyard stone got quite hot in the Indian sun, burning our feet as we walked around. Once again as we lined up the take pictures, locals quickly snapped pictures of our group.
Our next event was easily the highlight for the most of us. We all took a ride through the side streets of Old Delhi on a two person Rikshaw, or bike with carriage. As all of our drivers raced through the busy streets we were exposed to many sights, smells that we were not accustomed to. Overwhelmed with beeping and shouting we momentarily found ourselves stuck in a traffic jam. The end of the Rikshaw ride left us at the gate of the Red Fort.
This massive royal family fort was constructed in a mere 10 years. The fort lies along the Yamuna River which feed the moat surrounding the fort. Our tour guide has a lot to say about the fort. As we walked along the sweltering heat he explained how much of the fort is still in it original form. We walked through the Archeological Museum before we made our way back to the entrance to participate in more bargaining for souvenirs.
As we made our way to the airport we briefly stopped at Bengali, a local traditional sweets shop. Our tour guide Karan led the way as he suggested the best sweets to get. Thanks to his direction we were greatly satisfied with the selection. Arriving at the Delhi airport, strict security measures were enforced to just enter the airport. We said our final goodbyes to India as our plane departed back to Dubai just after 4pm.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
E-construct Visit, June 4th 2011
The LAU students visit today e-construct offices at the Dubai Internet city. Mr. Jack Kara’a gave us a brief introduction about the company and about the different projects that it works on. He started by introducing to different types of pre-cast concrete, the advantages of using it in long span projects and the detailed procedure to produce such panels and elements. Then he showed some pictures of sites where precast concrete is being placed. One of the most challenging project that e-construct has done was the Sharjah cement coal storage where the span goes up to 50m. Currently, the company is looking forward to work in Qatar in building concrete warehouses of 85m span.
Then Mr. Haitham Abdelkawy gave us also a lecture about the prestressed concrete with all the mechanics involved in tension and compression of the beams and slabs. He covered also in this lecture the pre-tension beams, the hollow concrete slabs, and the post-tension slabs . He showed us also pictures about different projects and sites that the company is doing currently.
After going back to the office, the LAU students continued working on the Midterm report that contains all the sites visited while the SU students were still in India.
Then Mr. Haitham Abdelkawy gave us also a lecture about the prestressed concrete with all the mechanics involved in tension and compression of the beams and slabs. He covered also in this lecture the pre-tension beams, the hollow concrete slabs, and the post-tension slabs . He showed us also pictures about different projects and sites that the company is doing currently.
After going back to the office, the LAU students continued working on the Midterm report that contains all the sites visited while the SU students were still in India.
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