A nimble operation

The project had just two drawings at tender stage, so plans have been flexible.

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The latest milestone for the Al Wahda Street section of the King Abdul Aziz Road renovation had little margin for error surrounded by buildings and vital cables.

Central Sharjah is moving closer to a transformed road system to meet today’s traffic volume, following the latest milestone in Package 5 of the redevelopment of King Abdul Aziz Road.

The main artery through the city heading east and curving south has been the subject of the most significant upheaval in the emirate for a generation or two – splaying vehicles through the centre into a spaghetti dish of alternative routes and makeshift lanes.

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In truth, the whole project has not seen the completion of the previous four packages. The first is completed, the second is still teeming with workers and materials, and the third and fourth have only just left the drawing board.

The latest completion of note, officially announced on 30th April, is the opening of the much needed viaduct on the west side of Al Wahda Street, a road last analysed by CW last September (issue 288). The viaduct crosses King Abdul Aziz Road at a 90 degree angle, itself a major project and a vital link between the port in the north and the south of the city.

For 30 years this route has been tracked by oil-cooled 132kV power cables flowing south and gas coming the other way.

The three sets of cables will remain but have been marginalised at the foundation stage to the sides of the new road, a transfer that has required the upmost delicacy – one of the many challenges when keeping running as close to normal as possible. The underpass was secured at excavation by reaction piles to stop the underpass essentially floating, using cables to anchor them to the sides, and the entire road is set for completion in August.

The viaduct will be the longest bridge in Sharjah, at 1,505m, and Halcrow, the project developer, had the nimble task of building it within a matter of metres from the shops and business offices at each side.

To avoid having to buy the buildings to have enough room, the developer doubled the length of the bridge, taking it far past the buildings in question so that cranes and all other machinery would not collide with the inhabited structures.

“The bridge was only supposed to be 750m initially,” explains Johnston. “We extended the bridge to where the land-take was not so important.”

The last of the pre-cast beams for the viaduct were laid on 19th March, explains Mike Johnston, senior resident engineer at the company. “The road corridor was very narrow, fitting a viaduct has not been easy, and getting the beams erected was a problem in itself, though by the time we finished we were laying girders in about 20 minutes.

“The big problem was transporting them from the yard to the site, as the police would give a short window of time and we could move three beams at once.”