UAE mountain road construction complete

An eight year project to construct the highest road in the UAE is now complete, with key help having been provided by a fleet of Volvo CE machines The work was carried out by local contractor General Mechanic Company (GMC), with assistance from Volvo CE dealer FAMCO as well as Volvo CE itself and Volvo Trucks. The 36km road climbs 1,910m to its highest point in a mountain range and required the transportation of 5.5 million m3 of materials during its construction.
January 5, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Machines from Volvo CE played a key role in building a new mountain road in the UAE

An eight year project to construct the highest road in the UAE is now complete, with key help having been provided by a fleet of Volvo CE machines

The work was carried out by local contractor General Mechanic Company (GMC), with assistance from 359 Volvo CE dealer FAMCO as well as Volvo CE itself and Volvo Trucks.

The 36km road climbs 1,910m to its highest point in a mountain range and required the transportation of 5.5 million m3 of materials during its construction. The route runs from the city of Ras Al-Khaimah to UAE’s highest peak, Jabal Jais, on the border with Oman. The new road is providing access to a planned sports facility intended to boost tourism, with a ski slope and paragliding launch ramp as well as a hotel and cable car all due to be built as part of the project.

The work was carried out in spite of the challenges posed by the rugged terrain, steep slopes, loose rocks and tough weather conditions, with temperatures as low as -3°C. The machines carried on working without any major breakdowns or incidents.

The project made use of an extensive fleet of 50 Volvo CE machines, including A35F articulated haulers, EC380D crawler excavators, wheeled excavators, L180G wheeled loaders and hydraulic breakers. Also playing an important role in the project was a fleet of 33 Volvo FMX 6X4 on/off road trucks.

The contractor, GMC, selected the Volvo CE and Volvo Trucks equipment because it was keen to utilise heavy duty machines able to cope with the tough conditions. Aftermarket support was provided by FAMCO to ensure maximum uptime.

Related Content

  • Demonstrating the latest in construction machines
    February 28, 2012
    Sandvik Mining and Construction and Volvo Construction Equipment have jointly held a series of machinery demonstrations and customer events in Sweden.
    Read More
  • New earthmoving machines
    July 29, 2019
    An array of advanced earthmoving machines are coming to market, offering increased performance, lower fuel consumption and reduced emissions The global market for earthmoving machines has been particularly strong over the last year. Demand for new equipment has been at a high, with sales of crawler excavators proving especially robust. Manufacturers have responded by increasing output, while tempting customers with new models offering major performance gains. Dozers In the market for dozers, Caterp
    Read More
  • Volvo CE’s arduous Andes assignment
    August 20, 2013
    Volvo Construction Equipment is working in some of the world’s most treacherous terrain to construct a high-speed road link across the Andes Mountains. A fleet of 60 Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) road-building machines is being used to construct a 140km highway across the Andes Mountains, from Bucaramanga, Colombia’s eighth largest city, to Cucuta on the border – providing the country with a much-needed high-speed link with Venezuela. Tasked with this huge undertaking is innovative Colombian hi
    Read More
  • Volvo CE’s arduous Andes assignment
    August 20, 2013
    Volvo Construction Equipment is working in some of the world’s most treacherous terrain to construct a high-speed road link across the Andes Mountains. A fleet of 60 Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) road-building machines is being used to construct a 140km highway across the Andes Mountains, from Bucaramanga, Colombia’s eighth largest city, to Cucuta on the border – providing the country with a much-needed high-speed link with Venezuela. Tasked with this huge undertaking is innovative Colombian highw
    Read More

Highlighted Content