The Global Magazine of Leica Geosystems

On its banks will be hills and valleys – a new topography
for Dubai – and a modern, sustainable city.
Supplied with water from the Gulf, Arabian Canal
will have marinas, promenades, beaches, and public
transport on the canal. Construction costs for the
waterway – the most complex civil engineering project
ever undertaken in the Middle East – are estimated
at US$11 billion.
For a project of this magnitude it is crucial to use
resources as economically as possible. “The project
involves moving large amounts of earth each day,
which requires a highly efficient system,” explains
Dr. Nedal. “The basis for the system is a model of
the terrain that is constantly kept up to date with
the aid of a complex interaction between total stations,
GPS/GNSS, HDS scanners, airborne digital sensor
cameras with LIDAR, reference stations, and to
some extent custom software.”
Continuous support
Several Leica Geosystems instruments for static and
dynamic measurements are used in this process. A
high definition scanner, Leica ScanStation 2, provides
point clouds of the terrain, while Leica SmartPoles
are used for the surveying. A dedicated GNSS reference
station network with five stations and Leica
GNSS Spider software provide the necessary RTK
correction data for the entire area. Soon a further
reference station will be added.
Before appointing Leica Geosystems as a supplier, a
number of possible systems were put through their
paces, explains Nedal Al-Hanbali. “We organized
a ‘competition’ between the various providers to
obtain the best possible instruments for our requirements.
Important factors included speed, efficiency,
accuracy, the integration of software and workflows,
and also the customer support and people behind
these products. During this process all companies
offered their equipment for several days of testing in
the Arabian Canal pilot excavation. The regional sales
partner for Leica Geosystems, Geco, was very cooperative,
offering their scanner for three consecutive
tests to explore all possible scanning and processing
possibilities. As a result we could check on-site that
the instruments – and service – met our requirements.
Geco now also provides us with continuous
support during the construction phase.”
Limitless LLC
Global Real Estate Developer
Business unit of Dubai World,
one of Dubai's leading business groups
Set up in July 2005
CEO: Saeed Ahmed Saeed
Vision: “To enhance and enrich lives through the
delivery of distinctive, sustainable developments.”
Geco – General
Enterprises Company
Leica Geosystems’ Partner
in the United Arab Emirates for 32 years
Distribution, training, and service
30 employees
Projects:
Al Garhoud Bridge, Dubai
Reference station network Abu Dhabi
Burj Dubai [see Reporter 56]
Abu Dhabi Airport
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