Day 9- Form Hotel Dinner and Tour

Today was an action packed day with lectures, quizzes and another amazing dinner. Our morning began with a lecture on cost estimation and pricing from Mr. Naim Mohamed, Chief Estimator of DCC. Mr. Naim went through all of the documents included in a tender package and explained an in depth analysis of a quantity take off sheet. This was all great information and gave us students a good perspective of how DCC comes up with the price for each job.

Image 1: Quantity Take Off Sheet



For lunch we had Veggie Vines as a starter and Kibbe Labnieh for a main course. This food was new for the American students and we found it delicious.


After lunch we had another quiz. This quiz covered Mr. Bassam's lecture on planning and scheduling. Once the quiz was complete, Mr. Naim finished his lecture and wrapped up everything we needed to know about cost estimation and pricing.


The plan for this evening consisted of a tour and dinner at the Form Hotel in Al Jaddaf. This hotel was the first project of DCC's that we were able to see a complete finished product. The quality of this hotel and its specific details were impeccable. Our tour began in the hotel lobby with the greetings from the Form Hotel management staff. We then went to the roof where we saw a beautiful swimming pool and a state of the art workout room. The tour continued to a suite containing two separate rooms. The detail and comfort displayed in this room was second to none. Our tour concluded in the basement where we were able to see the security room with live footage of cameras throughout the whole building.

 Image 2: Swimming Pool

 Image 3: Bedroom in suite

Image 4: Security camera footage

Finally was the delicious dinner! Roots, the restaurant in the Form Hotel, prepared a fixed menu for us consisting of pre set appetizers and desserts as well as our choice of prawns or lamb shoulder for a main meal. The majority of the students choice the lamb shoulder and I can confidently say no one regretted the choice. Dinner ended as usual with Dr. Sam telling several of his hilarious jokes.


Images: Students enjoying, Starters, Main Course, Dessert

Day 8: Pizza Madness

Today, it was weirdly dust, a complete haze across the skies. We started the day off at a site visit. It got up to a scorching 112 degree farhenheit. It was another day of pounding water until our stomachs hurt to stay alive and out of the hospital.

After the site visit we went back to the offices to eat Indian lunch and get slammed with the typical daily quizzes. We had a noteworthy lecture on finance. It was hands down one of the best lectures any of us have ever experienced.

Most importantly, it was the first day of basketball playoffs. Bears took the first game against the Wolves. Tigers had a narrow victory in overtime vs. the Lions. And Wolves overtook the Tigers in the last game. 

We finished off the day with endless amounts of gourmet pizza. The toppings were ranging from spicy chicken to margarita to a nutella dessert pie and much more. Our stomachs are about to explode from this heavenly food. 

Needless to say it was a tremendous day!

Day 7: Lazy Aftermath

Day 7: Lazy Aftermath

Perhaps we should have slept today. We were almost dead in the office, at site, even in the bus. In fact, it’s not only us who were lazy or tired. Even the workers on site were too lazy that they had to use a crane to lift a Seven-Up bottle. I mean it’s not our mistake, it’s perhaps Mr. Yabroudi’s generosity and kindness that led us to this laziness. A packed schedule full of fun activities mixed with serious and hardworking work is energy depleting we must admit however we cannot deny that this a very important way to learn and to remind us how important time management is. Speaking of fun activities, yesterday we had one heck of a day at the Dubai Safari. Now speaking of hard work, we woke up to the sound of the alarms and got prepared to go to two new sites. Unfortunately, we were still day-dreaming about the astonishing belly dancer and thinking about nothing but how relaxing was this day. Hence, we were not psychological ready to go back to work especially to the site.

So today was a sunny, very hot day, it was actually warmer than usual and we had to drink tons of water at the site to compensate for all this exhaustion.

Many of us didn’t want to go out of the bus, some forgot their notebooks, the others woke up late (but we all made it on time haha!) as if this the unconsciousness’s way of telling us to stay at the apartments and relax!

 The picture says it all, our colleague Juliano was so mad when we woke him up from his dream because he had to go to his site that was a residential building called “the court”. The other team visited Marquise tower that was located in Downtown Dubai and for sure it had also lot of none-willingness to go to work cases!

Not to forget that today our friend Edin got out of the hospital after having tough days fighting against the tight schedule! And to be honest when we were visiting the site we kept thinking about how lucky he was for sitting somewhere in the AC not having to walk one step in the burning sun. and to be honest, he wasn’t innocent at all because he kept on sending selfies from the hospital to play on our nerves! 

Finally, let’s take a moment to appreciate this beautiful pose of Bryan.

Day 6: Arabian Desert Adventure

Today was a vacation day in the desert! In the morning there was some free time for the group to wander around in Dubai where some went to the mall and others went ziplining. At 4:30pm, experienced drivers from the Arabian Adventure trips arrived to pick us up and start our safari trip. During the 50-minute drive to the desert, drivers gave us insights about the adventure and the trip’s schedule. Upon arrival, we were greeted by refreshments where an interesting falconry show was presented. Then, we went off dune bashing which was extremely thrilling especially with these professional safari drivers. Along the way, we encountered many desert animals like gazelles, camels, white orex, and others. We also stopped to watch the sunset and took memorable photos on the sandy hills. After that, we went to the camp gathering where we had some delicious Arabian food and watched the outstanding belly dancer perform along the beautiful Arabian atmosphere. Some people rode the camel and others bought some souvenirs. It was one unique unforgettable experience.

Day 5: Site Visit #2 & Construction Planning and Scheduling lecture

After having our usual apartments breakfast, we headed for our second site visit. The teams switched between the project sites they visited before, as per schedule, having team 1 visiting the Farid Tower 2 and team 2 visiting One JBR Tower.

Dubai from the van, under construction!

The One JBR Tower was really cool. We proceeded to the tower's amazing different floors, in which we saw the many phases of construction (geeky details in day 2 blog). Btw, workers don't seem to get the idea of a bathroom!

Sign of the year award goes to...

Perspective One JBR Tower beam-col view

Team 1 visited Farid Tower 2 where we had some very interesting activities and where William and Johnny appeared like the Terminator 2 while plastering the wall


Later in the evening we headed out as a group to the JBR area where we had a great night in the club meeting new people and dancing in the weirdest way (that's you Trainor)

Day 4: ERGA Visit

Today began with a visit to ERGA Progress Engineering Consultants where Mr. Joseph gave a presentation on Project Procurement Strategy, Contract Selection, and Contract Forms & Benefits. The second half of the visit was spent learning about many of ERGA's recent prestigious projects such as the O14, Rolex Tower, and SkyBar. During this time, an assistant walked into the room and handed Brian Trainor a pair of scissors and we were all very confused. We were all questioning him so he had to explain. He got up to use the restroom and noticed that a piece of his hair needed to be cut so he asked an office assistant for a pair of scissors. We all had a good laugh and the joke carried on throughout the day.

Upon arrival back at the DCC offices we took a quick quiz on Construction Management followed by a competitive game of darts for the women. Haley and Ellen won the game of darts and each revved a perfume bottle as a prize. After the game, we took a second longer quiz on Construction Management then we had lunch in the office: pizza and lasagna.

After lunch, we broke off into our two teams to start working on our midterm presentations on site visits. Then we headed back to the apartments to relax. Most of the interns went to the Mall of the Emirates to shop and eat dinner. Several of us went skiing at SkiDubai, the indoor ski resort in the mall and had a blast. Tomorrow we will have our second site visit!

Day 3: Construction Management Lecture

Both groups stayed at the office for the entire day learning about construction management. Mr. Ian Harper, the lecturer, is the DCC Contract Director. Since the topic of Construction Management is very vast and complex, we first need to receive a generalized introduction on the topic before our understanding can fully develop.

Mr.Ian detailed different concept about project management.He explained the key points to a good management system  as well as the role of each one of the management team such as that of the project director, project manager ...
Moreover, Mr Yabroudi joined the discussion and made some clarification regarding the management issues. Also Mr Bassam pointed out important ideas regarding planning and management.
In resume, this was a very helpful day.

Last but not least, after this long but fruitful day at the office theDSLIP students went to practice for the basketball tournament.



Also guess what we made to the WALL!!

Day 2: First Site Visit and Construction Drawing Lecture

Team 1 visited the One JBR Tower. Team 2 visited the Fareed Tower 2.

During the site visit to the One JBR Tower, Team 1 was briefed by the project manager Mr. Hesham El Telety. The building being constructed is a luxury residential tower with 46 floors and 161 units. The site also includes a swimming pool, a gymnasium, and a private beach. The client for this job is Dubai Properties. This tower is unique with its cantilever steel canopy to provide a shading factor, and uneven cantilevered balconies on each level. Interior finishes include oak veneer doors, porcelain tile in the bathroom, volakas white marble throughout, and white paint walls. Students were able to see all stages of construction including: waterproofing, steel fixing, concrete pumping, concrete form work, plastering, block laying, MEP utilities, and finishes.

One JBR Tower

Team 1

During the site visit to the Fareed Tower 2, Team 2 was briefed by the project manager Mr. Mazen Hallak. We began meeting at the job site offices and Mr. Mazen introduced the site booklet and drawings to us. The project is a new luxury residential tower located at business bay with 2 basement parking levels and 19 stories plus ground level, and it makes 29890.56 m^2 in total built-up area. There are 111 no. Apartments in total, which include one bedroom, two bedroom, and three bedroom apartment. The Tower Building is formed on a raft foundation with reinforced concrete retaining walls at the basement levels with a traditional reinforced concrete superstructure and post tensioned floor slabs. After we visited the site, students did some real hand-work activities. We got the chance to try plastering. After plaster was in place, we saw the leveling process. What’s more, we also tried to lay the light weight blocks and check the level using appropriate tools.

Juliano placing light weight block

Team 2

After our site visits and lunch, we had a lecture on reading and understanding construction drawings given by Mr. Mazen Hallak. We learned about the different type of construction drawings including architectural, structural, and MEP, and the different drawing stages. Each group had a set of drawings and worked together to understand the different annotations and spot differences between design revisions. At night, Mr.Abdallah took us to a really fancy Lebanese restaurant called Al Safadi, and he ordered every single dish on the menu. The food kept coming and coming, we all ate a lot and felt really full. It was a great night!

Day 1: First Day in the Office

Everyone woke up bright and early still jet lagged from our long flight to Dubai.

Upon our arrival to the Dubai Contracting Company office, we were greeted warmly by Mr. Abdallah. As tradition, we took a group picture in his office.  

After, each of us settled into our own desks fully equipped with office materials and personal protective equipment (PPE) bags. Soon after, we were split into four teams for basketball competitions; Lions, Tigers, Wolves, Bears. Everyone was excited for the competition and the rivalry began.

Mr. Bassam lead us for an office tour to each department. We learned about what each department did and what their responsibilities were. Departments included Human Resources, Planning, Commercial, Procurement, Financial, and Contract Director. Each student paid close attention and took notes, as we thought we would have a drop quiz when the tour was over. Lucky for us, there was a no quiz.

We had a very nice lunch break. The LAU and SU students were able to get to know each better and learn about their different cultures. We were surprised about the lunch menu. Each day we have a starter, main course, and desert. Today’s lunch included Sfeeha, Dawood Basha, Coconut Cake.

We ended our day with a health and safety lecture given by Mr. Pat Doyle. We learned the importance of Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and UAE safety guidelines. Furthermore, we had an overview of DCC safety standards and the methods of enforcement. We have learned that safety is the number one importance on a job site, and to always ask for a safety induction when visiting a job site. We will always remember to wear our PPE.