Cairo Monorails Projects
Cairo Monorails Projects
Cairo, Egypt, Egypt
The Cairo Monorails Project consists of precast concrete guideway beams used for a monorail system in a highly urban environment. Much of the alignment is designed along major highways and moves between the median of existing roadways to the shoulders to avoid large highway crossings or accommodate stations and then return to the medians. There are numerous utilities and existing structures that must be avoided, including some that are being constructed after the contract was approved.
Cairo is the capital of Egypt with a population of over 20 million. It is the largest city in Africa, the Arab world, and the Middle East, and the 15th-largest in the world. Coupled with that, Egypt has one of the world’s youngest demographics, which will cause the country’s population to grow 50% (from 100 million to 150 million) until the end of the century. These facts created the need for the government to device new population centers away from the congested Cairo streets.
To accommodate those needs, the Cairo Monorails project alignments radiate outward from Cairo city center as follows:
A 33 mile (53 km) long monorail will serve New Capital City. The alignment extends from Cairo Stadium to the east through new developments until reaching a $45 billion dollar brand new governmental capital in the yet to be named New Capital City. The city is expected to house 6.5 million people when finished.
A 26 mile (42 km) long monorail to serve 6th of October City. The alignment extends in a southwestern direction, providing a connection from the commercial Zamalek district, west of the Nile, to the new commercial, industrial, and residential City of the 6th of October.
Each of the alignments has sizable depots and Operations, Maintenance, and Storage Facility (OMSF) at the end of each alignment.
Innova is working directly for a civil joint venture (Civil Works Joint Venture, or CWJV) of the two largest construction companies in Egypt, Orascom Construction Inc. and Arab Contractors. Innova is providing alignment design, comprehensive logistic beam fabrication and transportation support, construction engineering, structural calculations and drawings for the mainline structures, and shop drawings for guideway beams. Additional design support is being provided for emergency walkways, track switches, station guideway beams, and depot guideway beams and foundations. Coordination with the vehicle supplier, Bombardier, requires attention to detail and close coordination for system requirements.
Innova is currently implementing design improvements based on our experience in the design, construction, and maintenance of monorails incorporating enhancements on the project in expansion joints, bearings with 50% longer life cycle than standard bearings used in the industry, improved quality control of guideway beam top surface finishes, upgraded construction engineering and precast techniques.
The fast pace of the project is causing contractors, vehicle and system suppliers, and designers to rapidly collaborate, with Innova at the forefront of those communications is establishing relationships and focusing on the tasks at hand.