Skip to main content

Herrenknecht launches Abu Dhabi service

Herrenknecht says it has responded to the high demand for micro-machines and comprehensive services in the Gulf region by opening a full-service branch in Abu Dhabi. The new company, Herrenknecht Tunnelling Systems, offers top machine overhauls, field service and supply of spare parts. “The Arab market provides for enormous future potentials. This is the reason why we have now established a full-service branch for micro-machines in Abu Dhabi,” says Ulrich Schaffhauser, head of management of the business uni
February 18, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Herrenknecht TBMS ready to start work on the STEP project in Abu Dhabi
2592 Herrenknecht says it has responded to the high demand for micro-machines and comprehensive services in the Gulf region by opening a full-service branch in Abu Dhabi.

The new company, Herrenknecht Tunnelling Systems, offers top machine overhauls, field service and supply of spare parts.

“The Arab market provides for enormous future potentials. This is the reason why we have now established a full-service branch for micro-machines in Abu Dhabi,” says Ulrich Schaffhauser, head of management of the business unit Utility Tunnelling.

The branch is run by general manager Swen Weiner who has been representing the Utility Tunnelling business (Ø = 4.20m) of the Herrenknecht Group in the Middle East for eight years.

Since the 1990s, Herrenknecht has delivered more than 200 micro-machines to the Gulf region. With the new location, it is aiming to further develop its business relationships there.

“Tunnel construction in the Gulf region is facing dynamic times and we want to offer our customers top services,” says Schaffhauser.

The Herrenknecht Group also founded the Commodore Cement Industries company (CCI) together with Commodore Contracting Company of Abu Dhabi. This means that Herrenknecht holds a participation in a concrete component factory specialising in lining segments and pipe segments for tunnel projects.

Comprehensive infrastructural works are planned and being realised in Abu Dhabi to support the growth of the city’s population from 621,000 inhabitants in 2012 to over 3 million by 2030. At the heart of these measures is Abu Dhabi's Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Program (STEP) that aims to restructure the city's sewage network by building extensive tunnel networks.
The Herrenknecht Group has 14 tunnel boring machines (TBMs) involved in the project.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The new agile world of the construction equipment industry
    June 22, 2015
    while worldwide for 2015 a crystalball would be helpful, in Europe the sector has already listed specific priorities it wants to tackle, and among these are the upcoming emissions regulations (see separate story), external trade and access to foreign markets, and market surveillance.
  • Saudi Arabia has to tackle road safety to reduce current accident levels
    November 15, 2012
    Saudi Arabia is suffering from poor road safety, despite continuing investment in infrastructure. The country’s road crash rate is very high, accounting for up to 19 deaths/day on average. The data shows that Saudi Arabia’s road network one of the most dangerous in the world. The Government of Saudi Arabia has introduced various policies to address the problem and enforcement has become much tougher. Although congestion is being addressed with the construction of new links and the implementation of ITS tech
  • Advances in tunneling technology offer efficiency
    October 18, 2017
    New developments in tunnelling technologies offer contractors greater efficiencies when constructing new bores. Tunnel boring machines (TBMs) are widely being used in major projects such as the Brenner Base Tunnel in the Austrian Alps. Full face TBMs are highly sophisticated machines featuring a rotating drilling head, which removes the material, and, depending on the type of construction, secures the excavated tunnel with shotcrete, rock bolts and wire mesh or prefabricated segments of reinforced concrete.