21 July 2007
Dubai: Project staff who helped complete the floating bridge in record time of 300 days were honoured by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman and Executive Director of the RTA said, "We were racing against time to inaugurate the bridge and help alleviate traffic congestion on Al Maktoum and Al Garhoud Bridges."
He said the floating bridge consists of three lanes on each direction and has a capacity of 3,000 vehicles in each direction in the morning and evening peak hours. The mobile part allows the opening and closure of the bridge within 10 minutes to give way to the maritime movement in the creek.
Hollow slabs
"Initial indicators confirm that it has contributed a great deal to reducing traffic jams on bridges and the movement on the intersections leading to the bridges in Deira and Bur Dubai has become smoother," he said.
The floating bridge which is 360 metres in length, extends from the intersection beside City Centre and Dubai Golf Club in Deira and ends at the intersection at Al Riyadh Street, between Dubai Courts and Creek Park.
Al Tayer said that the floating bridge consists of concrete slabs which are hollow and each slab is six metres wide and 20 metres long. The total cost of the project is Dh155 million.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Al Tayer gave awards to Hamid Zagho, Deputy Chairman of Parsons, the consultant supervising the floating bridge project; Klaus Aldlips Director General of Wagner Bureau Gulf, the company executing the bridge and top officials from the two companies.
By Alia Al Theeb
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
