The Giant, also known as The Emerging Man, is an impressive new sculpture at the Yas Bay Waterfront Development in Abu Dhabi. The Giant is a concrete sculpture consisting of a head and two hands sticking out of the water. The bronze head alone is 8 meters in diameter.
The sculpture was completely reinforced with Mateenbar™ and then shotcrete on site. A minimum concrete cover of 40 mm was specified because less concrete cover was required when using GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer) reinforcement, and no corrosion protection was required when using Mateenbar™ due to its corrosion and high chemical resistance.
Environmental Considerations for Composite Reinforced Sculpture
Sculptures and structural elements need to be highly durable and require no maintenance or repair during their life cycle.
The following environmental factors were considered in selecting Mateenbar™ as the best reinforcement material for this project.
1. the high salt content of the Arabian Gulf sea.
2. wind and high humidity.
3. hydrodynamic loads from wave sea level rise and storm surge.
4. seawater temperatures in the Gulf ranging from 20ºC to 40ºC.
5. air temperature from 10ºC to 60ºC.
For Marine Environment – Durable Concrete Reinforcement
Mateenbar™ has been selected as the ideal reinforcement solution to eliminate corrosion risk and extend the design life cycle without maintenance. It also provides a 100-year design life cycle. No concrete additives such as silica fume are required when using GFRP rebar. Bends are manufactured at the factory and delivered on-site.
The total weight of Mateenbar™ in use is approximately 6 tons. If the Giant project had used steel reinforcement, the total weight would have been approximately 20 tons. The lightweighting advantage saves labor and transportation costs.
This is not the first time Mateenbar™ has been used in Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi F1 Circuit uses Mateenbar™ concrete reinforcement at the finish line. the non-magnetic and non-electromagnetic properties of Mateenbar™ ensure that there is no interference with sensitive timing equipment.
Post time: Dec-06-2022
