Abu Dhabi: The super-sized distinctive dome of Abu Dhabi Louvre was lifted and put into place, achieving a major milestone in the construction of the museum, the Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) announced yesterday in the capital.
Tourists and residents will soon be able to walk in the floating Louvre Museum, as the marine excavation process starts, which will see the revetment, or breakwater area, surrounding the museum’s temporary platform removed in a strategic process.
Great strides have been also achieved across Louvre’s construction site.
“To date, Louvre Museum has achieved a number of major developmental milestones including, most recently, the completion of the dome. Over 18.50 million man hours was completed on site. The construction of all the galleries has been completed structurally, along with the concrete work for the museum’s basement levels,” Jasem Al Hammadi, director of infrastructure at TDIC, told Gulf News.
A highly secure seven-metre-deep basement through which authorised vehicles will transport all the artwork of the museum has been also completed.
The dome, which consists of 85 super-sized steel elements and weighs 7,000 tonnes, is supported by 120 temporary towers and will be later disassembled and removed, leaving the dome, as initially designed, resting on four main piers only.
Work has started on the cladding of the dome, whereby a total of eight layers of aluminium and stainless steel inserts, will be placed in a clockwise direction, above and below the steel frame.
“This is a major milestone in the museum’s development, and a great achievement for everyone involved because the execution of the design is very complex and one that is unprecedented in the architectural world,” Ali Al Hammadi, chief executive officer at TDIC, said.
The dome has been designed to achieve the rain of light effect within the museum. The cladding pieces have been carefully engineered in specific sizes and orientations forming approximately 8,000 starts in both the upper and lower layers.
“The dome is the museum’s most prominent feature and has been by far the most challenging element to construct on site. However, we are working round the clock to meet our deadlines and make sure that the project is delivered on schedule,” Jasem Al Hammadi added.
Louvre Museum, which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015, will be one of the premier cultural institutions located in the heart of the Saadiyat Cultural District.
As TDIC announced earlier, an estimated Dh2.4 billion will be spent on construction of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum.
