Progress has recently been made on the Emirates Airline project with the erection of the North Intermediate Tower.

The tower, located near the Emirates Royal Docks terminal is the first of three soon-to-be iconic towers to be fully erected. Measuring at over 200ft tall and weighing 270 tonnes the tower is the smallest of the three main towers.

Over the coming months, Londoners will see the two further white structures rise up to the skies with construction of all the towers scheduled to be completed by late spring 2012. Each tower will be made up of approximately 6,500 steel pieces that measure between 30 – 50mm with each steel block weighing approximately 30 tonnes on average. A complex helix like structure was introduced by Mace and was a design developed by Aedas with the connection and helix structure developed by Watsons.


The first tower was built within days of its steel pieces being delivered to site. Every piece is being crafted in the UK by Bolton based steel manufacturer Watson Steel, providing a real boost to UK based company. Over half of the two hundred employees at the factory are dedicated to this project and will continue to be until the last piece is manufactured in spring 2012.

Matt Randall, project director said: "All credit goes to the project team who have been working round the clock seven days a week for the month of December to achieve this important milestone."

(CD/GK)