Al Garhoud Bridge, Dubai

With traffic gridlock in Dubai estimated to cost the economy around £800 million each year, the Government of Dubai saw a clear need to improve and expand the transport infrastructure, especially when studies predict Dubai’s current tally of 700,000 cars will rocket to 2.6 million by 2020.

Within the strategic transport infrastructure development of Dubai is the new Al Garhoud Bridge Creek Crossing which replaces the old bridge constructed in the mid seventies.

This new bridge structure was designed and constructed to meet the requirements and desire for; aesthetics; integration into an urban environment; construction across a commercial waterway and maintaining un-interrupted traffic flow.

 

Video produced in March 2008

The old crossing provided a low level multi-span bridge with a single span bascule span to permit ship access. With only three traffic lanes in each direction the crossing formed a bottle-neck for traffic crossing the creek.

The new crossing is a seven-lane dual carriageway bridge.  The selected structural form was a 520m long crossing with 80m main span concrete post-tensioned box girder.  The central bridge span provides a 50m wide and 16m high navigation clearance to maintain shipping access on the Creek.

The Al Garhoud concrete box girder bridge provides a unique visual appearance and creates an awesome feeling due to its sheer magnitude. It has plans for different scales and speeds: there is the urban scale where the bridge is being seen as part of the city-sky-line, and there is the human scale that applies to pedestrians.

The bridge lends itself to attractive curved forms where forces can be visually interpreted and exaggerated. It sets off from a dynamic abutment and skims gently over the creek. The pedestrians coming from the waterfront may access the bridge either by using the stairs or the ramp up to the road level.

The inclined screen wall has many artistic works which will be illuminated during the night. The individual piers are asymmetrically shaped, like a hand reaching out of the water.  The pedestrian parapet elements are strongly linear and lay in the same inclined plane. The bridge lighting not only brightens the carriageways during the night but also illuminates the structure in a festive way. This is achieved by highlighting the sides of the box with the sources of light hidden behind the parapet and through integrated up-lighting on the piers. 

The client, Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) adopted the novel ‘fast-track’ approach and constituted a special design committee to speed up the review and approval processes. 

As a result the detailed design was developed in 75 days. Apart from  producing the concept and detailed design for the bridge, Halcrow’s team lead by Manjunatha Malige  also produced tender documents and was responsible for the supervision of the site.

Client Testimonial

Having delivered the designs on schedule, Halcrow’s team received glowing feedback from the client. The Road and Transport Authority’s structures team, which was actively involved in the design process, said:

“Halcrow’s concepts, designs and drawings were of superior quality for such a complicated and unique structure.”

Outcomes and Benefits

• Increased capacity and congestion relief through Dubai, linking Al Ittihad Road with Shaikh Rashid and Shaikh Zayed roads reducing travel times 
• The bridge has been built 16 metres above the water, ensuring free navigation for boats in Dubai Creek
• The completion of the bridge in a record time of 24 months is a success for the RTA. The new Al Garhoud Bridge is a perfect ambassador for the city The structure is already iconic and is set as a gateway to the Airport
• The new bridge has been designed to ensure a balance between the number of lanes on the bridge and the number of lanes leading to it from both sides to avoid any congestion and bottlenecks

Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, inaugurated the bridge at the official opening, on Saturday 15 March 2008.