The civil engineering team of Al Naboodah Contracting working on Dubai International Airport’s (DIA) new extension is celebrating a company record that may well turn out to be a world record.

In a single day, 6518 tonnes of asphalt was produced by the company’s three asphalt plants and laid over an area of 32,500 sq m – the equivalent of 4.5 km of standard roadway.
Al Naboodah’s initiative was backed by energy giant Shell which contributed 240 tonnes of bitumen, an essential ingredient, along with aggregate, in the asphalt production process.
The task, which took 16 hours to complete, involved all three of Al Naboodah’s production units working close to their maximum capacity of 440 tonnes an hour while Shell delivered as much bitumen to the plants in one day as many contractors take in a month. A fleet of trucks shuttled between the plants and the airport extension site, delivering 217 truckloads at 30 tonnes a time. And on site a total of 70 employees worked in shifts to lay the asphalt over what will be the airport extension’s taxiway and apron.
The record bid has also helped Al Naboodah in staying ahead of its schedule on the project.
Steve Lever, general manager of Al Naboodah’s Civil Engineering Division, said: “The operation needed logistical planning to ensure sufficient raw materials and resources were in place. The work was efficiently implemented by our teams at the production plants, on site and the various support functions and the fact that we achieved our goal was largely down to the enthusiasm of all those involved.
“This may well be a UAE record and possibly even a world record for the amount of asphalt laid on one site in a single day.”
Says S Natarajan, general manager, sales (UAE and Central Asia) for Shell: “We are proud to be associated with an outstanding achievement by one of our most important partners in this region.”
Says Moh’d Naeem, a member of the Al Naboodah team: “We planned very carefully for this day. The production plants and laying equipment were checked over and many of the team stayed up all the previous night to make sure everything was as prepared as possible.
 “It needed everything to run smoothly and the teams knew what was required. The fact that we succeeded in setting at least one record has been a tremendous boost to morale right across the company.”