World's longest arch bridge in Dubai (plans for next megaproject)

XPressNews ^ | January 29, 2008 | Derek Baldwin

[Squidpup]

A New York architectural firm has been selected by Dubai authorities to design the longest and what could be the most expensive arch bridge in the world.

The firm FXFOWLE has designed a unique structure that will include massive archways that will tower 205 metres above 12 lanes of traffic and two railway lines carrying Dubai Metro trains along the Green Line.

The bridge’s largest main span will be 667 metres long, eclipsing the 550-metre main span of Lupu Bridge in Shanghai, China, which is currently the world’s longest arch bridge.

The Dh3-billion project will take four years to build, said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Roads and Transport Authority.

It “should be completed by the end of 2012 if not sooner,” he told XPRESS following a press conference Tuesday.

Images of the proposed structure reveal an ambitious plan to erect a sixth crossing over Dubai Creek that will link Dubai Festival City and Al Jaddaf on the west side of the creek.

The design is based on an “acoustic wave” and will depend on an artificial island built just to the north of the existing Creek Island where the proposed Dubai Opera house is planned in coming years.

Al Tayer told reporters that the project is one of the largest in the RTA’s history and is so large, in fact, that it will require the project to be done in six phases. Construction will take four years to complete.

The proposed bridge will be located south of the existing Business Bay Crossing and will be large enough to handle 20,000 vehicles per hour across 12 lanes in total, six lanes in each direction, Al Tayer said.

The metro train will carry 23,000 passengers an hour across the bridge.

The bridge will rise 15 metres above the creek to allow for free navigation, although the floating bridge to the north which was erected last year has already blocked some boats.

Despite the bridge’s scale, the RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency CEO Maitha bin Adai said that the structure has been designed to be integrated into the environment and natural surroundings.

She said that is “the beauty of the design, the harmony of construction that fits into the environment”.

The firm FXFOWLE’s international director Steven Miller couldn’t be reached for comment at the company’s Dubai office on Tuesday.

But the company states on its website that it “is committed to creating architect6ure which stimulates and inspires; an architecture that tells the story of place, of institutional and individual aspiration, and of synergy between the natural and built realms.

“Over the years, the meaning of green architecture and sustainable design has evolved an FXFOWLE has remained in the forefront of that dialogue,” the firm stated.

Images released by the RTA show that the bridge will be illuminated at night in a way that resembles the varying fullness of the moon.

FAST FACTS

• The bridge will cost Dh3 billion • Construction will take four years • The giant arch is 205 metres high and 667 metres long making it the longest span in the world • The Green Line of the Dubai Metro will pass down the centre of the new bridge • The project will serve Dubai Healthcare City, Sama Al-Jadaf and Culture Village • There will be 12 lanes on the bridge, six in each direction • The bridge will be 15 metres above the creek surface to allow for free navigation

Source: RTA

[Drew68]

$100 a barrel of oil buys plenty of toys (not to mention bombs, madrassahs, and board seats in US companies)

It sure will! Unfortunately, Dubai doesn't have any oil.

[1rudeboy]

That’s weird. I thought I heard some talking head on CNBC say that the UAE’s wealth was primarily in natgas. I wonder who I’m confusing it with?

[Squidpup]

Interesting that a lady is in such a high position in this part of the world, I thought.

[RightWhale]

Nothing wrong with that or the bridge either.

[forkinsocket]

Woo! Time to pay Dubai another visit soon.

[thackney]

Lebanon and Jordan are the only two Middle East Countries that produce no oil. However, some like Israel and Bahrain produce very little.

[RSmithOpt]

And I’ve been on both and the dive down and up the New River Gorge over the old bridge is neat. The steel arch was built in 1974. They use to park rail cars full of coal on the old bridge (not shown) to hold it in place when the New was up into flood stage.

[Drew68]

I suppose you have to spend billions of oil dollars on something but why not spend it on making your country marginally habitable? (greening the desert like Israel) as opposed to builidng bridges and shopping malls with skiing hills in them.

Dubai isn't a country. It is an "Emirate" or city/state. The 15% of natives live pretty much a life of leisure. If they work at all, it is in very cushy white-collar professions. The other 85% of the population are foreign workers from all over the world. They stay and work in Dubai for a few years, return home and reapply for work visas. Dubai's shopping malls are the most extravagant in the world and "shopping tourists" pump billions into Dubai's economy each year.

Dubai is doing very well for itself. No reason to change. For the record, there are plenty of trees in Dubai.

[thackney]

Unfortunately, Dubai doesn't have any oil.

Although the fields are getting small in reserves, Dubai Petroleum Company (established 1966) operates the offshore oil fields of Dubai. Those fields are Fateh, Southwest Fateh, Falah and Rashid.

[Raymann]

Why green the country when you can pave it over? They can import all their food and frankly what they’re during will ensure they have a future after oil.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Dubai - actually, the entire UAE - is VERY liberal compared to the rest of the Middle East. Much like Lebanon. The princes and governments of the UAE are also very smart - they aren’t just wasting the money they are getting, they are working on making the UAE not only a playground for the rich (think Monaco, Bahamas), but the Wall Street of the Middle East - the financial and information hub of that region.

the UAE is actually pretty nice, as far as the Middle East goes...

[dglang]

There is a lot of exploration going on in Israel. The lowest point on earth is at the dead sea.

The oil pools in Israel tie into the arab oil pools and since they are lower than the arab pools, will have the benefit of having the arab oil seep down into the Israeli wells as Israel begins drawing a lot of oil out.

The oil is one reason the arabs want to destroy Isarel along with their eternal ancestral struggles. Whoever conquers Israel will inherit the oil.

[thackney]

Did I miss your sarcasm tag?

[steel_resolve]

BOMB MAGNET

[ddtorquee]

It sure will! Unfortunately, Dubai doesn't have any oil.

Dubai is part of the UAE.

"Oil and gas production has been the mainstay of the economy in the UAE and will remain a major revenue earner long into the future, due to the vast hydrocarbon reserves at the country’s disposal. Proven recoverable oil reserves are currently put at 98.2 billion barrels or 9.5 percent of the global crude oil proven reserves. As for natural gas, the proven recoverable reserves are estimated currently at 5.8 billion cubic meters or 4 percent of the world total. This means that the UAE possesses the third largest natural gas reserves in the region and the fourth largest in the world. "
http://www.uae.gov.ae/Government/oil_gas.htm

If you want to look only at Dubai instead of the whole country:
"Dubai’s oil reserves have reduced over the past decade and are now expected to be exhausted within 20 years. The main fields are offshore: Fateh, Southwest Fateh and two smaller fields, Falah and Rashid. The only onshore deposit is the Margham field. Dubai Petroleum Company (DPC) is the main operator. Dubai has a 2 per cent share of the UAE's gas reserves. Dubai’s Margham gas/condensate field can deliver up to 140 mn cfd for domestic use and offshore fields can provide another 100 mn cfd. Sharjah also supplies Dubai with 430 mn cfd through a pipeline installed in 1992. The state-owned Dubai Natural Gas Company (DUGAS) is responsible for processing natural gas produced in Dubai’s offshore oil fields as well as the gas piped from Sharjah." http://www.uae.gov.ae/Government/oil_gas.htm

"The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an important oil producer with the fifth largest proven oil reserves in the Middle East. The UAE is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) since joining in 1967. The emirate of Abu Dhabi is the center of the oil and gas industry, followed by Dubai, Sharjah, and Ras al Khaimah. In 2004, natural gas supplied 64 percent of the country’s total energy consumption, and oil supplied the remaining 36 percent...the country remains dependent on oil revenue, and the government has announced large oil production capacity increases within the next seven years. Abu Dhabi is the major hydrocarbon and industrial power while Dubai is the trading, financial, and tourist center of the emirates. Abu Dhabi and Dubai account for 80 percent of the UAE’s income. Hydrocarbon revenues account for around one-third of the UAE’s GDP, though the non-oil finance and service sectors in Dubai are making the city a favored base for multinational corporations in the Gulf. " http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/UAE/Background.html

[Allegra]

Interesting that a lady is in such a high position in this part of the world, I thought.

Dubai is pretty modern and western-friendly.

Nearby Sharjah, however, is not.

[never4get]

“BOMB MAGNET”

...Besides the initial not guilty thought, that is exactly what I was thinking...Sadly I might add.

[B-Chan]

Maitha Bin Adai is a skilled engineer. Also, a babe, at least based on the photo shown here. Kudos to the Emirate for being a truly forward-looking Arab state.

[RSmithOpt]

Though taken in Clifton Forge on the Jackson, The Creek can get up a little:

There are double track in many place along The Gorge, especially at the bridge; now owned by Chessie Rail Systems the old Chesapeake & Ohio. The C&O was the only railroad during the Great Depression to make profit and expand during that time because of their ability to haul coal out W. Va and Ky and Va. The C&O was a major key player during WWII and the goods they hauled (timber, coal, and chemicals).

Before the new bridge was built, motorist would take 45 minutes or longer to go in and come out over the old bridge. If it were snowing, 2 hrs or better.

OK I'm a train nut:

C&O H-8 #1648 AT HANDLEY, WV TERMINAL WITH ROAD ENGINES AND SWITCHERS PRESENT JUL 1955. ROAD ENGINES ARE JUST OUT OF STORAGE DUE TO UPSURGE IN COAL TRAFFIC PHOTO BY GENE HUDDLESTON

[Miss Behave]

Beautiful. Thanks for posting this, Squidpup.