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Work has begun at the site of Dubai Festival City to prepare for the construction of the massive 'city within a city'.
Omar Al Futtaim, chief executive of Al Futtaim Group, whose Al Futtaim Investments arm is developing the landmark waterfront project on a 1,200 acre site near Al Garhoud Bridge, said the start of construction marks a memorable milestone for the future of Dubai and is an exciting new phase in the group's history.
"This is the largest development project that the Al Futtaim Group has been involved with and we are all delighted that, following the extensive design process, construction is now beginning. It is hard to grasp the sheer scale of Dubai Festival City.
It is a huge project which will greatly enhance Dubai's international position as one of the world's leading business and leisure destinations."
The first task involves the relocation of two existing sewer and irrigation lines that run through the construction site along the bank of Dubai Creek.
Lee Tabler, chief executive of Al Futtaim Investments, said; "These services are being relocated to the edge of the site to allow for the construction of phase one - a waterfront crescent that will include entertainment, dining, shopping, hotels, offices and residential components of Dubai Festival City."
The Dh47.6 million contract to construct the pressure mains has been awarded to Al Naboodah Engineering Services, which will install new sewer and irrigation lines along the outer perimeter of the Dubai Festival City site.
"This is the first major construction contract awarded by Al Futtaim Investments and marks an exciting move into the real estate development sector," Al Futtaim said.
Following the construction of the two parallel pipelines, each of which will be 8km long and 1,200mm and 1,300mm in diameter, sewage and irrigation water will be diverted from the existing pipelines to the new, and the redundant lines can then be removed in the construction zones. Dubai residents will not be affected in any way by the transition.
"The relocated lines will have larger capacities than the existing ones, which will allow for increased future usage as Dubai's size and population continues to grow," Tabler said.
"Construction of phase one of Dubai Festival City will commence once the sewer works have been completed. The works are scheduled to be completed by the end of September 2002."
Dubai Festival City first phase is due to be completed in 2006.
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