Dubai is home of some of the most incredible infrastructure and is recognized worldwide for its impressive constructions. Sixense expertise was required for instrumentation and monitoring services at the Ciel Tower project, the highest hotel in the world, currently under construction.

 

A new iconic tower in the heart of Dubai Marina

 

Since 2016, an impressive project has risen in Dubai Marina, building the highest hotel in the world. This high-end hotel will include a health club, a luxury spa, a restaurant, 1042 luxury suites, rooftop infinity pools along with other facilities. The Ciel Tower is a new supertall skyscraper of over 80 floors and 365m high. Located directly across the world-famous Cayan Tower (76-floors) on the north side of the marina, the Ciel Tower will become a local memorable landmark with an estimated handover date in 2023.

 

A complex situation on site

 

The close proximity with surrounding structures and the congested urban area, including one of the main RTA Marina bridges, brought several challenges to the project. It was indispensable to set an adapted instrumentation and monitoring system during the construction phases.

Sixense provides during the construction early warnings of any excessive and undue movements of adjoining premises and structures and ensures project safety with its 24/7 monitoring system and Geoscope 7 Software, sending information about movements exceeding the expected levels to the required parties. During the excavation phase, settlement, deflection and deformation data were provided in order to verify the initial designs of the permanent structure but also the temporary works supporting the excavation. Eventually, Sixense also monitored ground movements.

Periodic monitoring data reports have been provided to the contractors, consultants and RTA throughout the project.

Zetas, contracted for Enabling Works, entrusted Sixense with the instrumentation and monitoring of the ground and the structures in and around the site. Dutch Foundation, later contracted for foundation changes, recognized Sixense’s track record of delivering success for the project.

Sixense’s expertise has been requested on one of Dubai’s community development projects aiming to raise the living standards and services for labour workers with affordable housing and an innovative modern project.

 

Sixense’s contribution to a large-scale project benefiting to Dubai’s worker community

Located in Dubai’s oldest and most important industrial districts, Jebel Ali Industrial development will provide quality and affordable housing to Dubai’s largest blue-collar workforce.

In the development process and in order to welcome large amounts of residents, a new sewage system had to be put in place under one of the busiest roads, Al Asayel Street. The contractor DX Contracting, hired for this project by MERAAS, opted for a Non-Destructive-Road-Crossing (NDRC) technique using a Micro-Tunnel Boring Machine. Although the machine’s drive diameter is small and used on shallow soils, there is always an existing risk of settlement that must be mitigated.

 

Sixense implements its innovative reflectorless monitoring technique

Sixense’s client requested the monitoring of the road to observe any vertical movements and mitigate the risk of settlements of this active and busy road under which the new system was being installed.

Usually, most technique consists in installing devices such as optical targets or ground settlement markers on the pavement, an invasive method interrupting traffic and needing a large site organization. Sixense was called to support the monitoring process with an innovative solution.

Sixense’s intervention brought to the project its solution consisting in the installation of a total station, an electronic optical surveying instrument on top of a nearby building, allowing a view of the whole area. From there, the influence area of the Micro-Tunnel Boring Machine could be seen with the reflectorless monitoring system to monitor the road settlements.

This innovative technique was the best solution to monitor the road safely, cost effectively whilst obtaining a density of “instrumentation” of one point every 2m² and allowing to monitor about 200 points. No installations were needed on the road and no traffic needed to be interrupted.

Sixense is aiming to put an end to conventional manual levelling techniques such as classic leveling that require specific traffic management ahead of each reading campaign and questioning safety around traffic environments.

Sixense is proud be involved in this project. Workers will now benefit as well from the area’s excellent connections to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and the northern emirates, Dubaï’s Investment park as well as the proximity to the Expo 2020 site.