Phase 1B - South Part - of the prestigious Dubai Marina project is under way with the construction of three hi-rise towers - each named after Arabic scents, and each relying on Doka formwork to speed construction.

Doka Gulf ZFE, Jebel Ali, UAE-based formwork specialist, has won several orders for the supply of formwork systems for the three hi-rise towers on the Marina project.

Dubai Marina has been described as one of the most ambitious projects in the region covering 4.5 sq km and featuring a 3.5 km-long man-made lagoon with almost 9 km of marina frontage - starting at Dubai International Marine Club and extending just beyond the Sheraton Jumeirah - some 25 km from Dubai city centre.

The overall project will comprise eight phases to provide more than 5.57 million sq m of development.

Phase 1 covers 10 hectares and features six residential towers including the 37-storey 'Mesk' tower, the 24-storey 'Yass' tower and the 16-storey 'Anbar' tower.

Subcontractor for the 37-storey tower, Robodh General Contracting has opted to rent formwork from Doka Gulf FZE using Dokaflex tableforms for slabs construction and Top 50 formwork for columns.

The second subcontractor, Ascon, has purpose-ordered Doka formwork for the two smaller towers, selecting the climbing system 150 F with Top 50 for the core walls and shafts. In addition, the Top 50 system is in use for the columns formwork.

With Phase I scheduled for completion by early 2004, it will include 64 villas, a variety of retail outlets, swimming pools, gardens and more than 2000 podium parking spaces.

Main contractor for the Emaar Properties project is the NASA Multiplex Al Futaim Tarmac JV.

Meanwhile, Doka formwork systems are also being used on the twin tower, 20-storey Emaar headquarters building close to Dubai's renown clock tower.

Contractor Al Basti and Muktha used single-sided formwork Top 50 for the basement walls. The core walls and columns were cast using Doka Top 50 wall formwork.

For the ground floor slabs, the Doka d2 supporting system with Dokaflex as superstructure were in use. For the typical floors, the contractor has opted to use Dokaflex 20.