DUBAI Precast has expanded its operations in the UAE with the opening of a new facility in Musaffah, Abu Dhabi.

The new facility, which is one of the largest in the region, will ensure sufficient capacity to cater for the market in the emirate, it says.
The company, which started operations in Dubai in 2005 with technical expertise from Southeast Asian precast specialist Eastern Pretech, has earned a good reputation and a sizeable market share within a short span.
“By 2008, it became evident that further expansion in the UAE was required,” says Matti Mikkola, general manager for Dubai Precast. “In accordance with the visionary leadership of the local shareholder Khalfan Al Kaabi, it was decided that another facility would be built in Musaffah.”
Construction of the factory was recently been completed and the facility is now producing precast components for projects in Abu Dhabi.
Mikkola says Dubai Precast has a reputation for providing innovative design, high-quality products as well as reliable services. “The company aims to differentiate itself as a specialist system provider, not just a precast manufacturer, among many regional competitors. With a history of working successfully on numerous challenging projects with the best contractors in the region, Dubai Precast aims to continue to provide a comprehensive service also in Abu Dhabi,” he says.
The factory in Musaffah is a state-of-the-art facility with emphasis on production efficiency and product quality. The large combined capacity of its two plants has helped Dubai Precast take a giant stride toward a market leadership position in the UAE.
Dubai Precast offers a range of structural solutions for buildings including structural components and architectural concrete.

Structural components
The provision of full structural systems from design to installation is Dubai Precast’s  niche focus. Products for such systems typically include slabs, columns, beams, walls and staircases to complete a comprehensive structure of any building.
The Abu Dhabi plant’s main product will be hollowcore slabs. With an annual capacity of 1.5 million sq m in Abu Dhabi alone, the combined capacity of Dubai Precast is currently the largest in the UAE, at over 2 million sq m of slabs annually. The hollowcore slab plant in Abu Dhabi is complemented by three covered production lines of reinforced concrete products to ensure that the capacity of other precast products doesn’t fall short.

Architectural concrete
As the precast industry grows in the UAE, Dubai Precast says it foresees an increased requirement for architectural products.  “The use of precast concrete as the structural system of a building allows the architect to benefit from the greater architectural possibilities. In addition to providing a high-quality structural system, we offer architects numerous choices of combining the structure with their final architectural finish. The structure itself can be crafted to the finest detail to play a part in the design,” says Mikkola.
Along with a choice of colours, which can be formed by using coloured aggregates and pigments, the architect can choose from a variety of surface treatments – typical off-form natural finish, acid-etched, polished, honed, patterned and exposed aggregate surfaces – to complement them. This provides the architect with a wide variety of textured finishes.

Components for projects
Alongside the typical components for buildings, the new factory is designed to provide additional facilities to produce a comprehensive range of infrastructure products based on the expertise and references of Eastern Pretech.
The references comprise several prestigious projects including railway sleepers, tunnel segments, bridge girders and large culverts. “This expertise will be utilised to assist contractors in completing some of the challenging infrastructure projects planned for the Abu Dhabi region,” says Mikkola.

Tunnel segments
The highly-demanding technical expertise in tunnelling gained from Southeast Asia will allow Dubai Precast to produce tunnel segments for several upcoming jobs in Abu Dhabi.
Among these references are a stormwater tunnel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which has diameter of nearly 13 m and some of the largest segments in the world.
The Musaffah facility has a very large production and storage capacity for producing and storing large quantities of tunnel segments. “Typical delays to tunnel contractors due to tunnel boring problems can be eased by the provision of a very large storage capacity able to accommodate a sizeable buffer stock of segments,” he says.

Railways
The construction of railways and transportation systems will require the utilisation of precast bridges and sleeper systems. “Concrete railway sleepers will be required in the future both in the Abu Dhabi area and the rest of the UAE. We have the technology and resources to produce this highly-demanding product in large volumes,” Mikkola says.
As an approved supplier and with references with several railway authorities in Southeast Asia, Eastern Pretech has produced hundreds of thousands of railway sleepers for both conventional as well as high-speed rail systems. Several ongoing projects including both railway bridges as well as sleeper systems are currently in progress.
“With escalating labour costs and an increasing requirement for speed and quality, we aim to provide a total solution to our clients to ensure the successful completion of their projects,” Mikkola concludes.