Kifaf Development Phase II-Plot 5

The Kifaf Development Phase 2 project is a landmark development project located in Dubai. It features a construction of tall twin towers structures, which are connected by a bridge at the top and a shared podium/basement. 

It is well understood that the movements of structural elements in high-rise designs are an important consideration for design and construction. It was important to determine the effects of the building movements and anticipate these movements (which occur during construction and in the long term) in order to avoid any adverse effect on the performance of the structure. 

This included monitoring building movements such as foundation settlement, axial shortening, creep and shrinkage, deflection, thermal movements (during construction), and movements (due to construction loads). Further, the project was monitored for parameters like settlement, deflection, deformation, inclination, direction of movements, and stresses, which were within allowable limits. 

Encardio Rite’s sister concern, Encardio Rite Geosystems LLC in UAE, was awarded an I&M sub-contract for the turnkey monitoring solutions that included: 

• Supply, install, and monitor instrumentation associated with the project during the construction phase
• Provide early warning through continuous settlement monitoring of the raft slab
• Monitor horizontal and vertical building movements during the construction phase
• Establish, maintain, and measure the survey network, including leveling
• Manual and automatic monitoring
• Monthly reporting with evaluation & interpretation

Various instruments were installed at selected locations at the Kifaf Development project site during the construction activity. Instruments used for monitoring and surveying during construction activity included: 

• Vibrating Wire Strain Gauge: Used for strain measurement of steel & concrete in the composite column, core wall, shear wall, and column.
• 3D Optical Prisms: are installed at predefined positions on the perimeter of the towers, to measure lateral and vertical movements.
• Building Settlement Point: To measure the settlement of the composite column and core wall during building construction.
• Pavement Settlement Point: To measure the settlement of the raft foundation during building construction. 
• Prism Target Fixed monitoring targets were installed to monitor 3D movements (x, y, and z).
• Dataloggers were used for the automatic collection and transmission of data from the geotechnical sensors. Robotic total stations were used to automatically collect and transmit data from prism targets.