Week 4: Day 3

Tuesday June 8, 2010

Abu Dhabi Visit

The day started as we all loaded up in the big bus and headed to Abu Dhabi again. Upon arriving there, we all put on our safety gear and stepped out into what felt like a sauna, the humidity was unbearable. The site we were looking at, ADCP Tower was only in the beginning phases of construction and it was still being mobilized. We looked down at a large excavation and learned about the different methods used for waterproofing and placing reinforcement for the foundation and columns. We walked around the site and observed the different ways that the Project Manager, Mr. Subrahmanyam or as we call him Mr. Superman, had mobilized the site through the organization of the office, scaffolding, and material storage. The tower will eventually consist of four basements, a ground-floor, two mezzanine levels, and twenty-two floors, but currently DCC is still waiting for a work permit so that they can begin construction.

After the visit to the ADCP Tower, we returned to the Guardian Towers, but this time went to the tower that is going to be allocated to office space, we saw a sample office and learned about the different finishes for the building. The finishing in the hallway and lift lobby that we saw was beautiful, and it was interesting that the tiles used for the floor and the wall siding were all different forms of granite. We went to the second, tenth, and fifteenth floor and we went to the roof. As we moved up through the floors, less and less progress had been made. For example, on the second floor all the concrete, block work, and MEP works were mostly complete and finishing was being done, whereas on the fifteenth floor the workers we prepared the floor slab for the block work to be laid. After spending the morning at the Guardian Towers with the Project Manager, Jihad Chouiery, we all were sweaty and starving. We had lunch at the Holiday Inn again, the buffet was luxurious and delicious with fresh fruit, brie, curry, potatoes, and mini- hamburger, we all ate enough to last us until the next day. 

After lunch, we went to the mosque that was recently completes and is the eighth largest mosque in the world. Melody, Stacy, Amanda, and Marieke all had to cover their shoulders with sweaters as they approached the mosque, and when entering were given traditional full dresses and head scarves that were required in order to enter the prayer area. After we all left, we were still in awe from the beauty of the mosque. We then left for Dubai, but on the way back we made a stop at the Formula One Racetrack and the Ferrari Theme Park, we didn’t get out of the bus but we were able to see part of the track and one of the rides that is being built. Our journey to Abu Dhabi then came to a close, and we were all exhausted and enjoyed the desert view as we headed back to Dubai.