Abu Dhabi Airport – De-propping begins at the Midfield Terminal Building

Early one morning in late August 2015, the first stages of a monumental milestone began.

The de-propping of the central arch of the midfield terminal roof.

As the sun rose, the first of the nine de-props got underway. Months of preparation and testing had gone into the culmination of this moment and confidence among the 45 de-prop specialists was unshakable.

60 hydraulic jacks were used to systematically lower some of the temporary supports in one of the most complex engineering feats of the multi-billion-dollar infrastructure project so far, allowing the arch to take the strain of its own weight.

To leave nothing to chance, down on the ground information was being fed to the control unit through constant monitoring to ensure the arch was de-propped safely and that nothing untoward was happening within the massive roof structure.

This amazing feat of engineering clears the way for the next stages of construction and signals the beginning of the end of major steelworks.

Over the next few months the de-propping will continue, and the glass and steel of the roof cover will be added.

The midfield terminal is now 55% complete and is expected to be 70% by the end of 2015.

The final job of the day was to begin cutting away the last parts of the supports attached to the arch.

The honour of cutting away the first one fell to Sabir and Chow Ping who write their names in history with their hard work in freeing the arch.

All the teams are working hard to bring this iconic terminal into being and we’re all incredibly proud of this amazing progress milestone!