Dubai to build world’s longest arched bridge

Dubai to build world’s longest arched bridge
By Joy Sengupta (Our staff reporter)KHALEEJ TIMES 30 January 2008

DUBAI — Construction of the world’s longest arched bridge in Dubai will begin in March and the project would be completed in four years, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced yesterday.

The project, the sixth crossing over the Dubai Creek, is estimated to cost Dh3 billion.

The bridge, 1600 metres long and 64 metres wide, will comprise 12 lanes, 6 in each direction. In addition, the Green Line of Dubai Metro will run through the centre of the bridge (the dividing area between the two bridges). The giant arch will be 205 metres high and 667 metres long.

The bridge will link Al Jaddaf in Bur Dubai with the road separating The Lagoons and Dubai Festival City. The crossing would also provide entry and exit points for the Creek Island, on which Opera Building, a project of Sama Dubai, will be constructed. The Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA, Mattar Al Tayer, said the project, developed by a United States-based company, would be completed in six phases.

“The construction of the first phase would begin in March this year,” he pointed out.

The crossing would facilitate free traffic flow at all intersections and allow free navigation throughout the day as it would be15 metres above the water surface.

The 50-metre-wide navigation corridor would enable movement of large yachts.