Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (Adnec) has announced that construction of Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi’s gravity-defying feature tower, is proceeding on schedule.

The latest stage of the construction is the pouring of over 6,000 cu m of concrete to create the base of the 160 m, 35-storey tower.
“Some 850 trucks are arriving on the site adjacent to the Adnec over a 30-hour period and the concrete will be pushed through five huge pumps which will work simultaneously and non-stop throughout the entire period,” says a spokesman for the developer.
The concrete will be pumped onto a dense mesh of reinforced steel which has been designed to be especially strong due to the unique structure of Capital Gate. The mesh sits above a complex distribution of 490 piles which have been drilled 30 m underground to accommodate the gravitational, wind and seismic pressures on the building caused by the distinctive lean of the building.
Simon Horgan, CEO of Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, the project’s master developer says: “There is nothing standard about this tower. Each room is different, and so are the glazing panes and the angles. It was designed to provide no symmetry to inspire both visitors and observers, yet the delivery team, comprised of Adnec, Al Habtoor Construction, Mace and RMJM, is consistently hitting target dates for delivery.”
Capital Gate, a key part of the Dh8 billion ($2.17 billion) Capital Centre development being built around the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, is scheduled for completion in autumn 2009.
When complete it will house the executive five-star hotel Hyatt at Capital Centre, Abu Dhabi’s first Hyatt hotel.
Meanwhile, Adnec has said that Phase Two of its modern exhibition centre has entered the final phase of construction.
The main structural work of the Dh500 million ($136.12 million) Phase Two development is complete and the main shell of the building is now in place. Over the next month, glazing, marble and other key elements will be installed.
“Some 2,300 highly-skilled workmen are currently employed on the project in a concentrated 24-hour programme of development and construction is scheduled for completion in September this year,” says the spokesman.
“Despite testing conditions within the regional construction industry, construction on Phase Two has progressed on schedule throughout the entire development. This is a credit to all involved,” says Horgan.
Horgan stressed that the speed of development has been credited to the company’s highly successful partnering programme, which has been adopted in all its development initiatives.
Adnec, lead contractor Arabtec, project manager Mace and engineering and architectural consultant RMJM have employed a specialist team of 12 people from Greece to work on Phase Two.
Rinol Hellas is credited for significantly speeding up the build process by ensuring better quality and technical superiority of the project.
The centre with 55,000 sq m of exhibition space, spread over 12 halls, is expected to be the largest facility of its kind in the Middle East on completion of Phase Two.