ANALYSIS / Business

BUILDING A LEGACY

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Bridges are important landmarks. They give a city its identity, benefit the entire community and allow the easy flow of traffic and pedestrians.

In the case of the UAE, bridges serve an even higher purpose. They reduce stress and the road rage caused by commuters travelling between Dubai and Sharjah.

Stephen Burke, deputy general manager of VSL was at the Intercontinental Hotel on the evening the Business Bay Bridge opened to traffic.

“I was watching from the roof of the hotel  to see the traffic flow to Sharjah, and to be a part of that team that made it possible was very satisfying,” he says.

VSL acts as sub-contractors and forms  part of the team that provides the post-tensioning technology and bridge bearings.

VSL is working on bridge projects such as Interchange 1, Defence roundabout and RT 5.5 and has won the tender from Al Nabooda for the post-tensioning on the parallel road project in Jebel Ali.

“We are also working with Archiroadon on the third crossing in Abu Dhabi. Designed by Zaha Hadid the bridge design resembles a sand dune, the structural engineers are High Point Rendall, and we are doing the post tensioning and supplying the hangar cables.”

Post tension box type bridges are the most common bridges in the Middle East. These are elegant designs that utilise the strength of the concrete and have the technical advantages of post tensioning which makes the bridge very light but with a structurally strong deck which can span 50m to 80m.

“The best example of this type of bridge is Garhoud, where there is a wide span which still allows the river traffic to pass. Another common type of bridge in this region is the grade separated interchanges like
interchange 5.5, where you have multi-layers with traffic going out in many directions,” says Burke.

More pre-cast segmental bridges are being constructed in the region as they don’t need to have scaffolding underneath. These types of bridges tend to be safer because they don’t require road diversions.

“New pre-cast segmental bridge design and construction methodologies are being used on the Metro project for the first time in the UAE. The advantages of this construction methodology, which employs both the span-by-span technique using overhead launchers and the balanced cantliver technique for longer span bridges, are speed of construction, minimum disruption to traffic and utilities, better quality concrete manufactured under factory-like conditions and safety, by minimising the use of traditional falsework,” says Dr. Ghassan Ziadat, director of highways and infrastructure, regional head of bridges for Atkins, Middle East and India.

FXFOWLE’s proposal for the architectural design of a 1.7km long and 205m tall bridge, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Crossing, in Dubai was selected by RTA in an international design competition. The firm’s winning bridge design will join five existing Dubai Creek crossings (four bridges and one tunnel).