The Jamal Abdul-Nasser expressway ... an artist’s impression.
Hi-tech highway
01 December 2013
WORK on one of the largest road development projects worldwide is gathering pace in Kuwait, as part of the country’s efforts to improve its urban infrastructure to cope with its rapid growth in the last few years.
The KD242.4-million ($854.82 million) Jamal Abdul Nasser Street Development project aims to transform the existing Jamal Abdul-Nasser Street into a world-class multi-level expressway extending from the Jahra Gate (Jahra Gate Roundabout-Sheraton) to Grenada area in the western region of Kuwait.
The strategic venture is being undertaken by Kuwait’s Ministry of Public Works, which has engaged a joint venture of Louis Berger Group and Pace to undertake the design and construction supervision of the project. It includes an 80 to 120 kmph multi-level elevated highway, bridges as well as the upgrade and reconstruction of the existing service roads to provide additional traffic lanes with enhanced utilities infrastructure.
Construction work on the five-phased project is being handled by a consortium of Rizzani de Eccher (Italy), Obrascon Huarte Lain (Spain), Trevi (Italy) and Boodai Construction (Kuwait).
All the five phases are being implemented simultaneously, with Phase One starting from the Airport Road roundabout to the First Ring Road (Al Salam Palace); Phase Two extends from Sabah Hospital Road roundabout to Grenada area toward Jahra City; Phase Three covers the stretch from Al Razi Hospital interchange to Ghazali roundabout; Phase Four extends from Ghazali roundabout to the Airport Road roundabout; and Phase Five encompasses the Ghazali Interchange with Jamal Abdul Nasser.
Project works
 |
|
Work under way on site. |
Work commenced on May 1, 2011 and is scheduled to be completed in June 2016. Given the scale of this ambitious development, the project threw up a number of challenges.
“Attempting this project in such a busy metropolis like Kuwait city, while upgrading an existing busy road, has required very particular methods of construction that do not impede or disrupt the traffic flow or the public environment dynamics,” Tarek Shuaib, the managing partner of Pace, tells Gulf Construction.
He says undertaking such a grand infrastructural development entails a series of sophisticated large-scale operations.
“Its engineering and the complicacy of its location has called for the use of the latest technology in bridge construction: we opted for precast segmental erection using overhead launching gantries and the establishment of an accompanying full-scale hi-tech precast yard.”
The launching gantry has been imported for the project.
The scope of works include the erection of the upgraded Jamal Abdul Nasser Street, which will be carried on a new precast segmental viaduct, approximately 7.2-km long and typically six to eight lanes wide with access ramps that are one or two lanes wide. The link road viaducts, also of precast segmental construction, vary from four to six lanes in width.
Elaborating on the technique used to implement the project, Shuaib says: “The method employed for the precast segmental erection of the bridges – known as the ‘segmental span by span’ technique – basically involves completing one deck span of segments after the other. Accordingly, the bridge segments of one span are lifted altogether, stressed then epoxy glued together to form a complete deck. This is preferable to the ‘balanced cantilever’ method in terms of its economy and speed of erection. Other advantages include the easy geometry control and the need to employ a smaller crew size compared to the balanced cantilever method.”
The project also includes a 716-m-long section of depressed road (trough), which will have two roundabout bridges to service the local traffic. New at-grade service roads, generally of twin three-lane configuration, will be located either alongside or underneath the elevated main roadway. There will be four interchanges and nine roundabouts in total.
 |
|
Phase Two ... diaphragm work in progress. |
A precast yard covering 130,000 sq m has been set up on a remote area in Doha. It accommodates large-scale precasting machinery such as mould production frames, heavy gantries, water tanks, storage and curing chambers, in addition to staff offices and the concrete batching plant.
“Work at the yard commences in the steel cutting zone, where the steel bars are cut and shaped to form the segment frame reinforcement,” he explains. “A total of 11 overhead electrically operated gantries lift the frameworks to the segment mould machines in order to complete the casting and pre-stressing process. A total of four gantry cranes (two each of 100 and 140 tonnes) have been set up and are operational in the precast yard with which the complete segments are moved to the curing stage then storage for site use.
The precast yard provides space for work and ensures the quality of the segments is maintained with regard to consistency and strength requirements to establish a bridge that is durable and requires little maintenance, he says. Other advantages include easy geometry control, faster pace of construction while avoiding disturbance to the public.
In addition to transforming the Jamal Abdul Nasser into an integrated highway, the development also includes the renovation of a number of utilities and drainage structures along the length of the project route. This will require relocation, protection, and refurbishment of water lines and the sewerage system, telephone services, gas lines and cables.
To ensure that structural works could be carried out on the existing road without disrupting traffic, it was necessary to establish traffic detours which had the same features and capacities as the existing road.
“While trying to maintain ease of traffic flow, detours occasionally may follow a rather irregular path depending on the circumstances and available space surrounding the original road. The main objective of the detours is to reroute the traffic to allow space for the construction of bridges and the re-location of all utilities,” says Shuaib.
To ensure that work is carried out according to the requirements of the Environmental
Public Authority (EPA), a monthly report is submitted to the authority on all environmental impacts caused by the project. The report includes a log of readings and occurrences throughout the scope of the project taken through daily visits and field measurements to determine the sources of air and noise pollution as well as groundwater, water sanitation, solid and liquid waste. A large percentage of the forestation and greenery lost during implementation will be compensated by landscaping in accordance with international standards.
Progress
 |
|
Phase Two ... erection of spans under way. |
Overall, some 20 per cent of the total scope of works has been completed on the project, he says. The structural works – essentially the elevated highway elements including bridge segments, foundations (piles and pile caps), piers and diaphragms – are advancing concurrently on construction sites as well as offsite in the project’s segment precast yard. Some 1,211 production piles have been bored and tested in all phases of the project entrenched under 77 pile caps. An additional 1,225 piles have been completed for the construction of the underpass. Also, 80 piers have been erected with a total of 13 diaphragms atop. Moreover, more than 1,531 segments have been cast in the yard with 66 segments erected via the launching gantry forming three complete spans in both directions. The abutment concrete structure was constructed in Phase Two of the project.
As for roadworks and relocation and protection of utilities, 12 traffic detours extending a total of 7 km have been opened so far alongside Jamal Abdul Nasser’s original road in both directions, having all electric cables relocated and protected. The relocation of 13 km – or 33 per cent – of water supply pipeline and 25 per cent of culverts in addition to 20 per cent of stormwater box culverts have been completed. Other relocations include 1.2 km (23 per cent) of sanitary lines and 14 per cent of gas networking works.
Challenges
 |
|
Fabrication of segments at the precast yard. |
The structural elements of the project and the network it entails, in addition to the extensive utility works will be constructed in the face of numerous challenges including limited work space, coordination of several trades, procurement of equipment from abroad and the extreme climatic conditions that have a huge impact on the concreting works as well as on-site productivity.
This project will be the first of its kind to demonstrate Kuwait’s ability to achieve large developments of a global scale despite all the difficulties and challenges, says Shuaib. “The nature of these large-scale projects requires co-ordination with the concerned authorities periodically during implementation according to the demands of work and the need for the right of way,” he adds.
Other challenges on the project include its busy densely populated urban location, requiring the contractor to complete the work with minimum inconvenience to the public. The traffic density on the road is also high due to the presence of services like hospitals, universities and institutes in the vicinity.
As such, safety considerations have been accorded priority. These include setting up a mobile laboratory along the project’s line for measuring emissions and toxic readings as well as a mobile clinic for the safety and health of workers; periodic lectures on safety and security for workers; motivating workers to abide by safety and security instructions; and strictly applying international standards in safety and security.
Link for Road works and utilities
