By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: Qatar Rail yesterday celebrated a major milestone with the completion of tunnelling work on the northern section of the Red Line of the upcoming Doha Metro. One of the company’s 21 Tunnel Boring Machines (TBM) achieved the final breakthrough on this part of the line located between Legtaifiya Station and Qatar University (QU).
With the completion of tunnelling by later this year, contractors are expected to move from construction into architectural finishes and systems installation such as track, power supply and signalling. This was announced yesterday by top officials of Qatar Rail at a press briefing held at Doha Golf Club. Legtaifiya Station is the spot where the Red Line emerges from the tunnels and rises up onto an elevated section running past QU and on to Lusail.
Qatar Rail also reported that overall progress was moving ahead well, with over 85% of tunnelling for the Doha Metro project finished and overall project completion reaching 37%. All the 37 stations of the first phase of Doha Metro are also under construction with 17 at the stage where the concrete roof slab is being cast.
Tunnelling on the Doha Metro’s Red Line started on July 19, 2014 and runs for 41km from Al Wakra in the south through to Lusail. The northern section from Msheireb to Lusail is constructed by international consortium Impregilo-SK E&C-Galfar Al Misnad JV (ISG). In addition to the tunnels ISG is responsible for the construction of seven underground stations. These are out of a total 18 stations on the line as a whole.
Among the stations on the northern section is Al Qassar, where a mock of a station interior was built to showcase the materials being used in the station interior fittings.
A total of four TBMs have worked on the line digging an average of 30 metres per day at their peak on this section. The best daily rate of 42 metres was achieved by TBM Lebretha on March 29, 2015. For all TBMs combined, the best daily rate was 114 metres on February 12, 2015. The end of tunnelling means that over 70% of the total construction on this section of the line is now complete.
Abdulla Abdulaziz Al Subaie, Managing Director of Qatar Rail, said: “We are particularly delighted by the progress on this section of the project as we and our colleagues in ISG have had to overcome some significant challenges. It is well know that one of our TBMs was flooded one year ago and the achievement today shows how effective our recovery operations were and that overall project progress was not affected.”
He said: “Across the project as a whole we are continuing to move to plan. Later this year we will be over halfway to delivering the whole project and tunnelling, which is currently at 85%, is expected to finish in the Autumn.” Also present at the event were Dr Saad Al Muhannadi, CEO, Qatar Rail; Barry Crouchman, Project Director for the ISG joint venture; and Sara Al Muhannadi, Head of Business Development, Qatar Rail.
Al Muhannadi added: “Today is the first in a series of major milestones on the Doha Metro project over the next few months. Soon we will see the completion of tunnelling on the Gold and Green Lines and later in the year our longest line – the Red Line will also finish its tunnels. All these events are opportunities to share our achievements with the public and we will be making the most of each occasion.”
The first phase of the Doha Metro project is expected to be complete in the fourth quarter of 2019, while completion of the Lusail Tram is set for 2020. The Peninsula
