Route 2020 a joint project between Acciona and Gulermak has now completed 50% of the tunnel drilling works of the project.  Acciona and Gulermak are jointly responsible for the civil engineering. This part of the project is in charge of the 15 km Dubai Metro Red Line extension from Nakheel Harbour and Tower station to the Expo 2020 ground including 7 stations, two of which are underground, the Nakheel Harbour interchange station and the iconic Metro station located at the Expo grounds.

In February the Herrenknecht TBM named Wugeisha  Expo 2020,  which is 9.66-m diameter and 100-m long,  arrived at the future Jumeirah Golf Estates underground station. The TBM started in Nakheel’s Al Furjan area and passed under Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road before reaching the underground station. It will continue tunnelling works up to the Dubai Investments Park (DIP) covering 3.2 km total at a depth of between 12.5 and 36 m. In 2.5 months the TBM, whose cutter head has 56 cutters,  advanced on average 13 m/day, with up to 28 m of tunnel completed in a single workday.

To reduce completion times, the TBM was pre-assembled outside the access shaft, with final assembly completed onsite. A new method was also used to allow tunnelling very close to the surface, avoiding the use of deep access shafts and incorporating significant innovations in the manufacture of the lining rings to prevent water filtration. The Route 2020 Project is technically very complex and the BIM methodology is being applied to every aspect of the design and execution phases.

All the tunnelling works will be completed by December 2018 and construction work on the Metro’s viaducts will be completed in November this year. All rail works on the Route 2020 project will be completed before summer 2019 and the system dynamic tests with trains will start during the summer of 2019. 

On the 22.03.2018 the Government of Dubai's Department of Finance (DoF) announced the successful completion of a 17-year financing deal of AED 9 billion, used to complete the construction of Dubai’s Metro Route 2020 extension project. The transaction consists of a 17-year AED 5.2 billion loan supported by comprehensive guarantees from the French export credit agency, Bpifrance Assurance Export S.A.S (BPIAE) and the Spanish export credit agency (CESCE). Repayments will be over 14 years commencing in 2020 and a 10-year facility of AED4 billion, with repayments over six years commencing in 2022. Click here for a video, here and ae/20 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit and http://www.acciona-construccion.com and http://www.dubaimetro.eu. 16/18.

http://www.acciona-construccion.com/pressroom/news/2018/april/acciona-gulermak-complete-50-tunnel-drilling-works-route-2020-project/

VIDEO LINK BELOW

https://twitter.com/DXBMediaOffice/status/972398977848152066/video/1