Sorouh, Abu Dhabi's leading real estate developer, has recently handed over the construction site of the Sky Tower and its sister tower to major contractor Arabian Contracting Company (ACC).

Sky Tower is part of the Gate District and will be built at Sorouh's flagship project, Shams Abu Dhabi on Reem Island.
Mounir Haidar, CEO of Sorouh says: “It was ACC's portfolio of prestigious projects and exceptional reputation in the market that led us to shortlist it from eight construction companies that had originally participated in the tender. We believe they will meet our expectations of quality, efficiency and on-time-delivery”.
Work on the Sky Tower and Tower 2, the 65-storey residential tower as well as the podium is well under way with work running to schedule.
The piling and excavation work, which was awarded to Al Habtoor-STFA Soil Group, consisted of 1,080 main piles. In addition, a majority of the enabling works for the excavation have also been completed, allowing work on the basement to start on schedule. To date, more than 96,000 man hours have been spent on the project and under the present progress the raft foundation was due to start last month, says a company spokesman.
In addition to the construction of the Gate District, towers and podium, the infrastructure works at Shams Abu Dhabi continues with more than Dh500 million ($136 million) worth of contracted work - incorporating the dredging and reclamation, earthworks and sewers and marina and seawalls - under way.
Highlights include the resort site where 100,000 cu m of sand was dredged in just four days. This was in addition to the placing of 480,000 cu m of dredged sand into reclaimed areas; production of 5,754 precast concrete blocks for the construction of the marina and seawalls; shifting of 410,000 tonnes of rock and 450,000 cu m of sand used to reclaim land.
In addition, 800 m of rock revetment wall, which will allow land reclamation either side of the proposed marina, has been completed. The reclamation in this area will require 1,300,000 cu m of sand. Moreover, work for the road embankments is currently under way; deep sewers network have been completed.
Scheduled for completion in 2009, the elliptical-shaped Sky Tower is Sorouh's high-end offering in Shams Abu Dhabi, on Reem Island which is 300 m across from the northeastern shore of Abu Dhabi city. The building will be housed in the Gate District, which has been projected by Sorouh as the face of the new Abu Dhabi.