2011
Dubai, UAE

The number of passengers at Dubai International Airport has increased dramatically. To be prepared for future growth, there have been extension plans in different phases. In extension phase II, seven “Emirates” hangars for aircraft maintenance, coating, and accommodation – even for the giant bird Airbus A 380, were constructed.

Project Requirements

The steel structure of the hangars shall be able to be protected against fire for 60 minutes so that in case of fire the people would have enough time to escape and the aircraft could be protected against big damage. In total, about 240,000 m² steel structure of the roof system was coated open air.

Normally such an open-air application is not a problem because of the dry climate of Dubai. But during the construction time, there was unexpected strong rain. So only a very fast protection method made the work to go on again possible. Additionally, there were special actions taken against the strong wind during the day, to avoid that the soft lacquer got a “sandpaper” effect.

Sika Solutions

All these problems were solved well by our experienced technician onsite. The coating system is composed of an anti-corrosion primer coat, Sika® Unitherm®-38091 interior, R 60 and Sika® Unitherm®-7854 top coat, RAL 9002. Towards the end of the project, a total of 600 tons of Sika® Unitherm® including top coat was used.

At the same time, the steel structure of the terminal extension was also fire-protected by Sika® Unitherm®. In this case, the escape time of the human being during the fire is set to be the priority, so the fire resistance time is set to be 2 hours. The pedestrian bridges from the terminal to the airplanes were coated against fire as well.

Besides the classical fire protection coating, in this terminal, there were further Sika products used. The technical rooms need to have wall surfaces with minimal VOC / AMC or particle emissions, therefore Sikagard ®-183 W CR was applied for the walls to meet the standard and the approval. Sika® Permacor®-136 TW was used for the interior coating of the drinking water facility to fulfil the local potable water standard.

Products Used

Sika® Unitherm®-38091 interior for fire protection
Sika® Unitherm®-7854 top coat for fire protection
Sikagard ®-183 W CR for coating
Sika® Permacor®-136 TW for waterproofing