Mateenbar GFRP rebar supports concrete sculpture

The Giant (also called the Emerging Man) is a new, bronze-colored concrete sculpture at the Yas Bay Waterfront Development in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that comprises Mateenbar (Dubai, UAE and Concord, NC, U.S.) glass fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP) rebar. Mateenbar was selected as the ideal reinforcement solution to eliminate the risk of corrosion and extend the design life cycle with no need for maintenance.

Contracted by Imagineering Abu Dhabi General Construction (UAE) in 2021 and engineered by Faithful Gould (London, U.K.), several environmental considerations were taken into account concerning the sculpture and the structural elements it needed, including:

• The high salt content of the Arabian Gulf ocean.
• Wind and high humidity.
• Hydrodynamic loads from waves, sea level rises and storm surges.
• Sea temperatures: The gulf range from 68-104ºF (20-40ºC).
• Air temperatures: Typically range from 50-140ºF (10-60ºC).

Durability and the elimination of all maintenance or repair during its life cycle were additional objectives the project was required to meet. 

The final sculpture consists of an 8-meter-diameter head and two hands emerging from the water. It is fully reinforced with Mateenbar, which was placed in-situ and sprayed with shotcrete on site. Minimum concrete coverage of 40 millimeters was specified as using GFRP rebar required less concrete coverage.

The total weight of Mateenbar used was around six tons, said to be a 14-ton difference from steel reinforcement, in addition to delivering labor and transportation savings. Using Mateenbar also reportedly provides a design life cycle of 100 years, and eliminated the need for concrete additives such as silica fume.