Doha Metro is now 39% complete, tunneling job stands at 89%

Qatar Rail and QDVC, part of the joint venture for the Red Line south Underground, gave an overview of project progress on Phase 1 of the Doha Metro recently.

The Phase 1 of the Doha Metro includes Green line, Gold line and Red Line, according to Qatar Rail's representative, Dermot O'Meara, project director of Redline South Underground.

According to O'Meara, 112 million man hours had been spent to date with completion of 39% of the project and 89% of tunnelling.

There are 34,000 workers on sites, and there would be three metro lines with 37 stations. The new metro trains are some of the fastest driverless trains in the world and the fastest in the region with travelling speed of up to 100km/hour and a targeted project completion year of 2019-2020.

Dermot confirmed that the 21 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) set the Guinness World Record for operating 'The Largest Number of Tunnel Boring Machines Operating Simultaneously in a Single Project'.

Representatives from QDVC Saud al Dolaima and Bertrand Xavier explained to the audience that one of the main challenges that their team faced was the construction of subways. It was challenging due to the busy traffic around the sites and the amount of utilities present.

An example was at the Umm Ghuwailina Station by the Toyota Junction, where the road network connects Corniche, West Bay, Souq Waqif and C-Ring Road with an average traffic flow of 10,000 vehicles per hour.

There were over 110 utility services that needed to be protected and diverted as part of the project.

The professional team at QDVC had devised a methodology of 'Pipe Roofing Utility Support' to protect and support the utilities from below, rather than the traditional method of protection from above.

The benefits of this method include limiting impact on traffic, providing safety to public and works, reducing environmental impact, reducing interface with stakeholders, mitigating time, saving cost and ultimately a commitment to 'Keep Doha Moving'.

Courtesy: Qatar-triubune.com