The final piece of the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s mega-structure domed roof was put in place on Monday, authorities in the UAE capital confirmed.
The dome is 180-metres long (the length of two football pitches) and has a total weight of 12,000 tonnes. It is made up of a steel structure, weighing 7,000 tonnes (almost as much as the Eiffel Tower), and a further 5,000 tonnes of aluminium cladding.
Its 85 segments were assembled on the museum’s construction site prior to being lifted into place on top of 120 temporary support towers by a specially-commissioned crane.
A 600-tonne capacity crane was also used to construct sections of the dome closest to the outside edge. A 1,600-tonne plus capacity crane – which stood 230m tall and needed 90 trucks to bring it to site – was used in the dome’s assembly.
Carlos Antonio-Wakim, executive director of development at master developers TDIC, told Construction Week at Cityscape Global in Dubai this week: “The mega structure of the dome is already there. The last piece to be fitted is today and then it’s to go through the remaining elements of the structure.
“You have the mega structure and then you have all the cladding. You have eight layers of cladding, four on the upper levels of the structure and four on the lower layers of the structure.”
And he revealed the construction joint venture of Arabtec, Saudi Oger and San Jose, was on schedule for the opening of the iconic museum on Saadiyat Island by the end of 2015.
He said: “The concrete works under the dome is all done, so we have all the galleries up and fit-out of those galleries has already begun. There is also a lot of electromechanical works. A complex project like this requires a lot of mechanical and electrical coordination.
“Our contractors are quite excited to be going through this with us, so it’s quite a milestone for them and TDIC.”
Antonio-Wakim also revealed that construction contracts for both the Guggenheim and Zayed National Museum are under tender, with the latter in the final stages.
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