THE Habtoor Island Resort and Spa is among the latest prestigious residential and commercial projects in Dubai that are being shaped using modular formwork from Germany’s Paschal-Werk G Maier.

The formwork specialist’s products are being used for the shuttering works for all pits, columns, shear walls and core walls at the resort and spa development at Palm Jumeirah, by the main contractor Al Shafar General Contracting. The Dh468-million ($127 million) project, which is currently in the substructure phase, comprises three basement levels, a ground floor and five upper floors, encompassing a total built-up area of 102,312 sq m. It will house a five-star hotel building, restaurants, retail shops and a health club, among a host of facilities. Work on the project started in August last year and is expected to be completed in August 2013.

Another Dubai project where Al Shafar General Contracting is using Paschal formwork is the mixed-use Al Muraqabat Complex, which is also in the substructure stage. The system is being used in the shuttering works for all pits, retaining walls, columns, shear walls and core walls of the development in Al Muraqabat. Offering a built-up area of 70,957 sq m, the Dh320-million ($87 million) project entails the construction of three buildings with two common basement levels, a ground level plus seven floors, housing a four-star hotel, apartments, restaurants, retail shops and a health club. Construction work started last December and is scheduled to be completed by December 2013.

The Paschal modular formwork system is also being utilised by a number of other leading local contractors in Dubai. Al Nekhreh Contracting Company is using it for the construction of the columns, core walls, retaining walls and water tanks of Dheeraj Wadhwan’s DEC Business Tower, which comprises three basement levels, a ground floor, three podium levels and 19 typical floors. The project is currently at the second podium level. Al Nekhreh Contracting Company was also utilising Paschal for the shuttering works on all vertical elements of the Iris Amber, a Sheth Estate International project, which is currently on hold.

Another contractor General Contracting Company is currently undertaking shuttering works for columns, shear walls and core walls of Buhulaiba Tower project in Al Nahda Two, with the help of Paschal formwork. Work on the residential and commercial tower, which was relaunched in September last year, is currently at the 10th floor slab level and is expected to see completion by September. The project, with a built-up area of 15,110 sq m, comprises a basement, ground and 12 upper floors.

Meanwhile, Transemirates is set to complete work on a 21-storey commercial and residential building in Al Rafaa, having used Paschal formwork for the shuttering of columns, shear walls and core walls.

Artist's impression of Midfield terminal complex at Abu Dhabi Inerinational Airport.

“These projects are making extensive use of Paschal’s Modular/GE, which has proven its versatility and flexibility in use on the widest range of construction sites in more than 60 countries, whether in foundations, walls, shafts, polygons, columns or beams,” says a spokesman for Paschal.

“Work with Modular has proven to be faster and easier than that with other products. The strong flat steel frame is easy to clean and work with. The benefits of Modular were instantly recognised at the construction site, one of the reasons being the efficient training provided to specialised workers by Paschal sales engineers and installers,” he adds.

Among the recent high-profile projects completed in Dubai is the $127-million Mamzar Beach substation, the emirate’s first 400-kV underground electrical power supply system. Paschal’s Modular/GE formwork system was used on the project located near Al Mamzar Beach Park, 6 km from Dubai city. Internationally operating companies, including those from Germany, were involved in the project which features an EHV (extra-high-voltage) 400-kV line running underground.

The substation, completed mid-2011, is fed with electricity generated in Al Awir, which is transmitted 20 km to Mishrif and another 20 km from there via underground lines to Mamzar Beach.

The client for the project is the Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa) with the main contractor being Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution (PTD). The subcontractor responsible for all civil construction was the Dubai-based Lootah Building and Construction (LBC), a division of the Lootah Group of Companies. Paschal Emirates Company, Paschal’s subsidiary in Dubai, was responsible for the formwork planning and supply.

“The partially underground substation covering 24,000 sq m may be considered small in comparison to conventionally built plants with similar capacity. But it is made of 4,850 tonnes of gas-impervious PPC 40/20 concrete containing eight per cent microsilica. About 3,000 tonnes of concrete reinforcement has been integrated into it,” says the spokesman.
He says the base foundations have been built using conventional methods, with Paschal’s modular universal formwork used for all vertical surfaces. The formwork was also able to meet the challenges posed by the varying depths of the heavily-reinforced foundation of the building housing the master controller.

“At a depth of 8 m, there was hardly enough space and there were numerous separating walls. Thanks to its modular format, the formwork was easy to work with and comparatively light and was able to satisfy all of these requirements,” says the spokesman.

“Since the cycle planning was very effective, only 1,500 sq m of formwork were necessary for the substation project. This apart, 200 sq m of several sets – to some extent – of double-height column formwork up to 9 m were used. Despite the different wall heights, foundation height changes and the strict supervision of the consultant, Electricite de France International, the modular formwork satisfied the requirements with ease,” says the spokesman.

Other projects in Dubai built with the support of Paschal include Dubai Autism Centre, a water production plant expansion in Jebel Ali, Botanica Tower, a commercial project for Ismail Ahmad Abdulhamid Al Zarooni, Deyaar Tower at Business Bay and the Bay Central Hotel at Dubai Marina.

Elsewhere in the UAE, Paschal’s solutions having been helping speed up construction of a variety of projects ranging from towers to infrastructural developments in Abu Dhabi and Fujairah, thanks to the efforts of Paschal Concrete Forms, the regional office based in Bahrain, says the spokesman.

In Fujairah, Paschal formwork were utilised for shuttering works for columns, shear walls, water tanks and pits for an office and commercial building consisting of a basement, ground, three parking levels and 30 floors in Al Hilal City. Superstructure works have been completed recently on the project, where General Contracting Company is the contractor.

Paschal formwork is currently being used in the construction of 1,550 oversized pile caps and associated works for the Midfield terminal complex, which forms a key component of the Abu Dhabi International Airport expansion project. The contractor on the Dh209-million ($57 million) infrastructure works package, which was launched in February 2011, is the TAV Construction-CCC joint venture. Work on the pile caps package was completed in December 2011.

Al Muraqabat Complex ... now in the substructure stage.

At the Corporate Tower, also in Abu Dhabi, Paschal has supplied all vertical elements on a rental basis for the substructure of the tower. Work is currently at the second podium level of the development for the Royal Group, which is being built by National Project and Construction under the supervision of National Engineering Bureau, the consultant.

Paschal solutions were also used at the Al Wifaq Tower at Reem Island in Abu Dhabi for the construction of the retaining wall columns and water tank and other projects such as Oceanscape and Marina Bay Tower. Currently, substructure work is completed on these projects by the contractor Al Shafar General Contracting. Paschal created the design based on the contractor’s available stock of formwork, says the spokesman.

Other projects in Abu Dhabi that used Paschal systems include the Reem Investment headquarters, Blocks B1 and B2 in Zone B of Marina Square, and Paris Sorbonne University, all in Reem Island; Emirates Aluminium (Emal) smelter complex; Masdar Institute of Science and Technology; projects at Danet; Yas Island sewage treatment plant (equalisation tank); Nation Tower; six villas in Jisrain; and Zayed University Convention Centre.

Since the inception of its regional office in Bahrain, under the name of Paschal Concrete Forms in January 1998, Paschal has emerged as a leading supplier of modern formwork solutions to the region’s contractors. The regional office is supported by offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Tracing its growth in the region, Amir Delghandi, general director of Paschal Concrete Forms says: “Paschal first entered the region in the early 1970s with the supply of formwork for a dam project in Saudi Arabia and later expanded to include other civil projects in Kuwait and Bahrain, supported with products delivered directly from the main office in Germany.”

The first delivery of Paschal formwork to Bahrain goes back to 1983. Over the period, Paschal served several other prestigious projects in Bahrain and neighbouring countries. Due to the growing demand for formwork in the region, in 1998 the company decided to open its regional head office in Bahrain. Paschal opened its office in Dubai in 2004 and its Abu Dhabi branch in 2009.

Over the years, Paschal has forged ahead with a number of prominent projects in the region that bear testimony to the flexibility and cost-effectiveness of its systems, that have proved popular in the region.