THE HYPERLOOP STATION DESIGN COMPETITION

A 48HR DESIGN COLLABORATION, FROM MID-DAY GST, 26TH SEP.

ORGANISED BY

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Hyperloop Infrastructure
from Dubai to Fujairah
UAE

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Introduction and Background

Hyperloop is fast becoming considered the future of transportation around the globe. It will soon be our
fifth primary mode of transport (after aircraft, trains, boats and cars) and promises to provide fast, easy
and environmentally friendly transportation which is cost effective as well.
Hyperloop is emerging as a mode of transportation which will change the way we live together literally
moving passenger traffic and freight transport at supersonic speeds and bringing us all closer together.
The Hyperloop System consists of two one-way low pressure tubes with capsules that transports
passengers inside them between termini located at each end. Capsules can travel at both low and high
speeds throughout the length of the tube.
Passengers are allowed to enter and exit the capsules at stations located at either ends of the tube, or
at the end of branches along the tube length.
Capsules travel in air tight tubes over a low pressure air cushion and are propelled by magnetic linear
accelerators fixed inside the low pressure tube and rotors fixed beneath each capsule.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Introduction and Background

The termini are connected with low pressure tubes using a compression airlock at the inlet and
decompression airlock at the outlet of tubes in the terminus.
The arriving capsule enters the compression airlock where the tube pressure is equalized with the
air pressure of the station which decelerates the capsule speed. Similarly, when departing, the
capsule moves towards the decompression airlock where the air pressure is lowered up to the
operating level of the Hyperloop tube which accelerates the capsule to higher speeds.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

The Challenge
The Government of Dubai is planning to build Hyperloop infrastructure in the
near future between two great global cities, Dubai and Fujairah City in the
neighboring Emirate of Fujairah. The government aims to reduce the
transportation time between these two cities to 10 minutes from the current
1hr20mins over road transport.
Build Earth Live 2016 challenges participants to imagine and design the
worlds first Hyperloop system to connect Dubai and Fujairah City for seamless
passenger and freight transport.
Participants need to design two parallel Hyperloop systems, one for two-way
passenger transport and second for two-way freight transport. The Hyperloop
tubes and capsules for both transports should be different however both
systems should be connected with the same termini.
www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Detail Hyperloop Terminuses

The Hyperloop should firstly connect the two international
airports of Dubai - Al Maktoum International
i
Airport in Jebel Ali southwest of Dubai & Dubai International Airport) and then connect Dubai Intl Airport to
Fujairah International Airport.
The three Hyperloop termini are to be strategically located near the airport terminals to ensure maximum
convenience for passenger and freight transport through the continuous flow of Hyperloop Capsules.
The Hyperloop route should start from the Hyperloop terminus near to Al Maktoum International Airport and
should end to Hyperloop terminus near to Fujairah International Airport (near the entrance gate of Airport).
The Hyperloop terminus next to Dubai International Airport should redevelop the existing Terminal 3 Car
parking and the municipality warehouse area located on 35th and 54th street road. This should build an over
ground Hyperloop terminal with multiple entrances and a wide underground car parking. As this terminal will
be intermediate stop of whole Hyperloop route and connected with a busiest airport, it will get maximum
traffic of passenger and Hyperloop capsules.
Design of each terminus should be unique and feasible to control the peak hour load of passenger and
capsules flow.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Detail Hyperloop Terminuses

During peak hours the passenger flow can go beyond 840 passengers per hour and hence the termini should be
capable of handling multiple access to multiple capsules in order to achieve smooth flow of passengers and
freight. Each termini should support both passenger and freight Hyperloop systems.
To achieve smooth transportation of passengers and freight during peak hours the passenger and freight capsules
need to be capable of carrying at least 28 passengers each or one 40 feet cargo container each, respectively. Each
terminus should be able to achieve capsule handling time of an average two minutes. However, the whole system
should be able to achieve a throughput of 6 capsules every 5 minutes during peak hours.
The termini should have multiple floors with sufficient entry and egress as well as sufficient vertical transports to
cater for up to 1,200 people per hour.
Participants should allocate suitable space for retail, ticketing machines, waiting areas, IT Rooms, operational
offices, integral equipment storage, security offices and apparatus, first aid facilities, cleaners store and amenities
as well as a central security zone for screening departing passengers.
Designs should allow maximum sunlight and natural air circulation inside the building to provide optimum
temperature and ventilation rates for the occupied space.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Detail Hyperloop Terminuses

Please provide building systems for each terminus including electrical, mechanical (HVAC), fire
safety, plumbing, telecommunications, etc. utilities.
Provide a multilevel parking with capacity of 400 cars within each terminus however the Hyperloop
terminal next to the Dubai International Airport should have underground car parking with capacity
of 1000 cars.
Since Hyperloop travel time is very short, provide a wide space for time consuming activities like
automatic security checking, all ticketing and baggage tracking, embarkation and disembarkation of
luggage to minimize wait times and delays. Additionally, provide a special facility for Hyperloop staff
to take care of loading and unloading of passenger luggage (or freight) in order to maximize
efficiency without any delays.
The Hyperloop terminus should be large enough to transport at least 3 full size capsule (Passenger
and Freight capsules) to parallel travel in the tube as each capsules will be separated within the way
of tube by approximately (37 km) on average during operation.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Detail Hyperloop Terminuses

Provide large open transit area with two large airlocks signifying the entry and exit points for the capsules. The transit
area should be large enough to perform the following parallel actions within an average of 2 minutes for each
capsule,
1. Capsule arrives from the compression airlock and aligns with the arrival platform where passengers (or freight)
can easily disembark from capsule and their luggage can be quickly unloaded from pod (by the Hyperloop
staff).
2. Then the vacated capsule will align to the departure platform for passengers (or freight) to embark and load
their luggage to luggage pod.
3. Safety check done by Hyperloop attendant for each passenger before the capsule is cleared for departure
4. Capsule moves forward to the decompression airlock.
The transit area should provide all necessary facilities to perform these actions quickly with a high level of precision.
The Hyperloop terminus should be able to achieve continuous loading/unloading sequence based on a single
compression and single decompression airlock for each system as well as the simultaneous management of multiple
capsules during embarkation and disembarkation.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Detail Hyperloop Terminuses capsules & tube

Make all provisions to ensure the air pressure is maintained between tube and the terminus transit areas.
Provide a direct access from Hyperloop terminuses to Airport.
Design a covered transport system either over the over ground road supported by pylones or subterranean tunnel to
facilitate smooth passenger transit between airport terminals and Hyperloop terminuses. This entire transport facility
should be indoor and air-conditioned.
Design a rapid feeder service to this transport system between Dubai International Airport to nearest Hyperloop
terminal. This entire system should not be effected by existing traffic and should continue transport passengers as
well as Freight.
The size of passenger capsules should be enough to carry 14 rows of two seats carrying 28 passengers with their
luggage and enough space to fit all service component within it. For freight transport capsules, the size should enable
carriage of a single 40 long cargo container with enough additional space to fit all necessary service systems.
Depending on the size and cross-section area of the capsules, you should design the size of the tubes large enough
to provide alleviation of potential choked air flow around the capsule and to avoid shock wave formation around the
capsule while keeping in mind material costs as an important build factor.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Detail Hyperloop Terminuses capsules & tube

The overall tube system, whether supported by pylons or underwater or in a subterranean tunnel, should be
designed with consideration of risks such as subsidence, earthquake, and weather in general. The overall tube
system shouldnt be rigidly fixed at any point and it should not include any expansion joints.
In order to minimize the build cost of the Hyperloop system, elevate as much of the tube as feasible on pylons.
Design the pylons so that they will withstand atmospheric pressure, earthquakes, wind. The pylon design should
allow longitudinal slip of tubes for thermal expansion and dampened lateral slip to reduce the risk posed by
earthquakes.
Place the various vacuum pump stations to run continuously at various locations along the tube to maintain the
required pressure and factor in prevention of any possible pressure leakage through the joints and termini.
Route of tube should be accurate and smooth so that capsule can easily achieve a speed of 768 mph irrespective of
all existing geographic structures like urban areas, mountain ranges, reservoirs, national parks, roads, railroads,
airports, etc.
Whenever turn are required in the tube route, design the tube bend radii such that passengers do not experience
inertial accelerations that exceed 0.5g and capsule can maintain sufficient speed to achieve aerodynamic efficiency.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Detail Hyperloop Terminuses capsules & tube

It is assumed that, in the case of emergency (e.g. any accident, capsule depressurization (leak in tube),
capsule stranded in tube, any earthquake effect etc.), the capsules have direct radio contact with
station operators and other capsules to auto report about the incident and finish/stop journey.
Design in an onboard passenger emergency service on the route of the Hyperloop.
The Hyperloop System should be self-sufficient as far as its power consumption is concerned. Set layers
of solar panels on the entire route of the Hyperloop (including termini) and this should generate enough
system energy to operate the entire Hyperloop System 24x7.
The fitting of solar panels over the tube and termini should be immune to wind, sand storm, fog, rain,
and other weather phenomena.
Provide storage and maintenance space within each terminus for storage of the Hyperloop capsules.
This space should be large enough to store, repair and maintain capsules. It should be connected with
tubes so capsules can be easily commissioned and decommissioned on-demand within the existing
transportation flow between arrivals and departure platforms.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Detail Hyperloop Terminuses capsules & tube

Design should be in compliance with LEED Gold certification and incorporate the latest technology
for indoor air quality and a seamless, efficient and flexible workplace environment.
A key component of the design will be built complying to net-zero energy built environment, in line
with the goals of the Emirates Green Building Council (EmiratesGBC).

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Design Assets
Design assets are being provided in multiple formats as follows:
BEL-HYP-2016-Design-Brief.pptx
BEL-HYP-2016-Site.pdf
BEL-HYP-Site-Terminus-1.ifc
BEL-HYP-Site-Terminal-2.ifc
BEL-HYP-Site-Turminus-3.ifc

Gross areas may be varied by +/- 10%

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Submission Requirements
Model files: One or more coordinated IFC files for different AEC Discipline for each individual Building
model.
A federated set of BIM models in IFC format <teamname>_<Buildingname>_<discipline>.ifc
Site context model in IFC format.
Images: A sequence of at least 20 images <teamname>_01.jpg to_20.jpg
A presentation in either Powerpoint or Keynote format, structures as follows:
Introduction / Meet the Team
Design Intent explanation and explain how you have delivered to the brief
Explore the collaborative working experience Provide technical specs and technical assessments
A list of Participants
A movie: Movie <teamname>.mp4/.avi, No longer than 2 minutes

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Submission Requirements
A3 sized 2D representations and reports <teamname>_01.pdf to _05.pdf, not more than 5.
Documents with details of Area, Volume, Material, Ceiling height, Floor Height etc.
Door Window Schedule, Tube and Solar panels Installation schedule
Quantities of material and elements
4D Simulation, Cost Schedule etc.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Judging Criteria and Awards

The BUILD EARTH LIVE: HYPERLOOP 2016 Award
Criteria: Simply the best overall BIM effort within the brief as voted by the judges

Best use of BIM for Design, Drama & Excitement

Criteria: Compliance to the brief and in particular the use of design to connect communities through revolutionary transport
Criteria: The most visionary design.
Criteria: the best visualization, presentation and AVI to explain the design

Best Multi-disciplinary BIM & Use of Interoperability

Criteria: involvement of multiple disciplines and applications
Criteria: use of technology to check the design
Criteria: continuous updating of the public collaboration server

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com

Judging Criteria and Awards

Best use of BIM for sustainability or constructability
Criteria: the best 4D model
Criteria: incorporation of green design
Criteria: the best set of engineering/construction drawings, or cost analysis, or FM package

BIM for Innovation

Criteria: the most innovative approach to BIM

Judges Discretionary Awards

The judges are drawn from the OpenBIM and Design community.
Their decisions and comments will be announced at the event awards ceremony on Monday October 3 rd.
The materials submitted will be retained for the use of OpenBIM and for publicity, promotion, education and testing and will
remain in the public domain.

www.buildearthlive.com

www.asite.com