Mammoet constructs Dubai Expo 2020 roof

Mammoet used one of its 750 tonne capacity Liebherr LR 1750 crawler cranes to lift and install roof panels onto the UAE Pavillion at the centre of the Dubai Expo 2020 site.

The UAE Pavilion was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava

The weight of the panels ranged from 6 tonnes to 16 tonnes with lengths varying between 24 metres and 61 metres.

Wing design

Dubai Expo 2020 is a six-month design and cultural event involving 192 countries. One of the buildings is the UAE Pavilion which was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

The design is inspired by the image of a falcon in flight. The roof is made up of 28 moveable ‘wings’ to represent movement.

The wings can spread open within three minutes, covering a range of 110 and 125 degrees.

Safe speeds

Due to the size of the panels and a large surface area to weight ratio, the permissible lifting wind speed was reduced to 3.4 meters per second to ensure safe operations.

All panels were installed at night so as not to conflict with other construction projects

All panels were installed at night to accommodate the continuity of other construction activities at the UAE Pavilion during daylight hours.

Each panel was lifted at an outreach of 35 metres with the counterweight disconnected to accommodate the congested site requirements.

After slewing the panel above the roof in line with the installation position, the counterweight was connected so the crane could boom out to 117.5 metres with sufficient capacity.

Each panel was then safely lowered down to enable easy alignment for further securing.

Additional lifting

Additionally, six mobile cranes, ranging in capacity from 50 tonnes to 350 tonnes, were deployed for installation of various structures at the Expo site, including bridge portals and the public spaces in concourses and arrival plazas.

Dubai Expo 2020 opened in October 2021.