Abu Dhabi Airports said it has achieved a major milestone with the completion of the final de-propping of the last arch in the roof of the new Midfield Terminal Building (MTB).

The de-propping took three days and 90 jacking points were used around the building for support while the process was under way. This last stage released 8,000 tonnes of weight onto the roof, which weighs 21,000 tonnes in total, it stated.

With the successful completion of the final de-propping, the structure is now completely self-supporting, said a statement from Abu Dhabi Airports.

Sulaiman Al Siksek, the chief programmes officer at Abu Dhabi Airports, said: "Now that the complex process of de-propping the roof structure has been completed, the construction team has started clearing the 50 support towers under the roof, which will take them another four to five weeks."

"Meantime, the work can now start on the exterior enveloping of the front façade and on the preparation necessary for the interior work on the central processor," he added.

On completion, the MTB will be the largest architectural structure in Abu Dhabi, visible from more than 1.5 km away. Its roof span is 319 m at the widest point with 18 arches, the largest of which is 180 m wide and 52 m high, said the statement from Abu Dhabi Airports.

Over the coming months, Abu Dhabi Airports will start building the stand-alone retails units in the duty free area of the building, it stated.

The MTB, along with the existing terminals at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH), will serve the increasing number of passengers flying through Abu Dhabi, a figure expected to surpass 45 million within the next decade.

Situated between the two runways at the airport, the new terminal, once operational, will provide the passengers a quicker and smoother experience offering them the shortest possible journey from runway to parking stand, it added.-TradeArabia News Service