WAM, Abu Dhabi – The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City-sponsored Geosynthetics (environment-friendly materials) Middle East Conference 2011 got to a great start today in Abu Dhabi featuring participation of an elite panel of regional and global roads and infrastructure experts. The event, which runs for two days, is organized by German Plastics Centre SKZ in collaboration with the German Chamber of Commerce with the aim of promoting the commitment to a sustained and environment-friendly infrastructure.
During the Conference, the Municipal Infrastructure and Assets Sector at the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City presented a working paper highlighting the key road and infrastructure projects undertaken by the Municipality in the past.
Engineer Saeed Al Shamsi, Acting Executive Director of Municipal Infrastructure and Assets Sector, said that these conferences offer a great opportunity to review the latest developments and future opportunities of communication between the public and private sector regarding new technologies, particularly as regards conservation of the environment.
“The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City is seeking to play a considerable role in implementing sustainable development policies, and drawing up strategic plans built on a methodology capable of forging close integration between the completed projects and delivered services.
“Applying the sustainability principles in Abu Dhabi projects is in itself, a strategic objective pursued by the Municipality since the compliance with sustainability requirements warrants studying the project’s functions, performance efficiency, technical progress, life-cycle cost, safety and public health, and use of energy and raw materials, as well as impacts on the environment and natural resources.
“Work is progressing in full swing in the application of sustainability principles in road and infrastructure projects at the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City. Sustainability is realized not only through capitalizing on the designs of engineering value and effective construction methods, but also through the use of new technologies, better quality materials, and optimal management of resources. In order to achieve the ultimate goal of sustainable infrastructure, the Municipality’s Technical Team is working on the implementation of several initiatives including the construction of leading projects, conducting internal studies, and carrying out field and laboratory tests related to sustainability and environment requirements.
“The environment-oriented sustainability initiatives currently undertaken by the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City in road projects are so numerous and varied, including many important aspects such as the general strategic initiative for lighting, which aims at reducing the excessive power consumption resulting from inappropriate lighting design standards, and old lighting technology. The initiative also aims at consolidating the new strategic power consumption practices adopted by the Executive Council, which are capable of reducing the level of light intensity in order to bring it close to international standards, besides upgrading the standards set for lighting designs.
“The Municipality of Abu Dhabi City, together with other relevant government institutions and departments in Abu Dhabi, participates in the evaluation and development of Abu Dhabi’s consolidated standards of roads infrastructure and infrastructure projects. One of the key objectives of this project is to implement the latest economic methods in terms of cost and sustainable applications used in roads and infrastructure industry.
“The Technical Team of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City has piloted a project to study the use of recycled asphalt in rehabilitating roads in Abu Dhabi. Recycling of asphalt is a design alternative that can be used in rehabilitation of pavements in roads maintenance. The main objective of recycling asphalt is to upgrade the current performance of pavement in the long run, increase the current load capacity, save 20-30% of pavement rehabilitation works of maintenance projects, save energy and raw materials, shorten the time spent in construction works, reduce carbon footprint and improve environmental connotations.
“The pilot project for recycling of asphalt started three months ago and the project site is currently under continuous surveillance by a technical team of the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City.
“The Conference plays a significant importance in sharing expertise and reviewing pioneering practices in Abu Dhabi Emirate in this regard. Succeeding in attracting more than 300 delegates representing 25 countries in its 2010 edition, the Conference has grown into a huge showpiece in Geosynthetics industry across the Middle East, and placed Abu Dhabi as an excellent communication link between Geo-tech engineers and environment specialists for exchanging expertise, carrying out works, and fostering strategic partnerships,” added Al Shamsi.
It is worth-mentioning that the Conference is also a perfect platform for reviewing numerous working documents presented by senior experts and specialists including applications and case studies about the uses of Geosynthetics in railways, roads, airports, sea ports, bridges, tunnels, and landfills as well as environmental protection and other related topics.
The Conference also witnesses participation of university and college students in the UAE who have been invited to take part in the events considering the vitality of issues to be reviewed and their contribution to adding more valuable information, thanks to their scientific and practical engagement and follow-up.
The Conference is accompanied by an exhibition in which local and international companies showcase their latest products and services.
