Gulf Construction Online - Site nears completion with 210m work hours

Expo Countdown

Work has been completed on the majority of the roads and transport projects for Expo 2020.

Site nears completion with 210m work hours

01 November 2020

With one year to go for Expo 2020 Dubai, the race is on to finish off all developments related to the mega event on time.

More than 210 million work hours have already been completed safely on the site and all permanent Expo-led construction done with fit-out, landscaping and construction of country pavilions set to conclude by year-end.

In a report for CNN’s Road to Expo, Ahmed Al Khatib, Chief Development and Delivery Officer at Expo 2020, provided an update on the mega event following an extended delay due to Covid-19.

“In terms of construction, we are at the very final stage.” Al Khatib told CNN. “So, our target (is) to finish everything by the end of this year in terms of construction of the site.”

In October next year, the UAE will be hosting the first World Expo in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, thus welcoming the world to a global mega-event that aims to reconnect people, cultures and society following the Covid-19 pandemic. Featuring a spectacular calendar of daily events and programming, a rich variety of global cuisine, and a once-in-a-lifetime showcase of arts, architecture, entertainment, culture and technology, Expo 2020 will pay tribute to the resilience of humanity, its ability to innovate, and its pursuit of optimism in the face of adversity.

One of the first global, large-scale events to be held post Covid-19, it will celebrate humanity’s resilience and achievements, and its ability to innovate for a better future.

More than 190 countries, plus companies, international organisations and educational institutions, will participate in the six-month event that will shed light on the biggest challenges facing our world, and inspire a collective movement towards building a better future for all.

With the aim of moving millions of visitors to and from the site in an accessible, safe and smooth manner, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has built an advanced transport infrastructure, adding Route 2020, capable of transporting 46,000 people every hour to and from the Expo site, to the Dubai Metro Red Line, and developing a vast road network.

According to RTA, construction work has been completed on the majority of the roads and transport projects within the integrated plan in order for Dubai to host Expo 2020.

Recently HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai had inaugurated Route 2020, the extension of the Dubai Metro Red Line from the Jebel Ali station to the Expo 2020 site. The route spans a length of 15 km and was completed at a cost of more than Dh11 billion ($3 billion).

Earlier, in the first quarter, RTA had completed all phases of roads project leading to the Expo site project, costing more than Dh3 billion. It included the interchange of Expo Road; the interchange of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road with the Expo Road; the entrances to the Expo 2020 site from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road; the interchange of Expo Road with Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Road; the interchange of Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Road in the Dubai Investment Park with Al Yalayis Street; the interchange of Emirates Road with Expo Road; as well as the completion of the Airport Road development project to accommodate the anticipated increase in passengers that will use Dubai International Airport.

According to RTA, work is currently under way on 14 stations and bus stops that will serve Expo 2020, and will allocate buses to transport passengers from specific stations in Dubai and the rest of the UAE.

Many government bodies have a major role in the preparation for a successful Expo that reflects the UAE’s vision. For example, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) will be providing the Expo 2020 site with clean energy from the new Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest solar energy park in the world. It is also building three substations and a number of charging stations for electric vehicles.

Dubai Municipality has also helped develop Expo’s infrastructure and to enhance the visitor experience by developing nurseries and providing trees. The civic body has implemented irrigation and landscaping projects along the roads leading to and surrounding the Expo over a total area of 2.45 sq km.

Dubai Municipality said it is also working on implementing a number of strategic projects to meet the future needs of the emirate in preparation for hosting the event, the most important of which is the Deep Tunnel Project, a first of its kind in the region, which covers large areas of the emirate, including the Al Maktoum Airport area and the Expo 2020 area.

Leading Dubai developer Emaar Properties is also playing a key role towards delivering Expo 2020, lending its expertise in construction and development towards delivering the thematic pavilions and Districts on time and on budget, and via its subsidiary, Emaar Hospitality, which is Expo’s Official Hotel and Hospitality Partner (see also Architecture & Design feature, Digital Edition, Page 65).