The arches, which take the form of a curling infinity symbol, are made up of 40 steel sections, the heaviest of which weigh 130 tonnes. According to Mammoet, these had to be installed by cranes operating from the banks of Dubai Creek.
To carry out the work, Mammoet and Aertssen Machinery Services (AMS) relied on two Demag lattice boom crawler cranes positioned on either side of the creek. The 140m working radius of the cranes allowed them to work together to lift the sections and position them for connection to the other segments.
Somnath Bhattacharjee, crane operations manager for Mammoet’s UAE Branch, commented: “Each lift required an extraordinary level of precision as the tolerances for joining the segments were a matter of millimetres. But when you have the right machines and a great team, all goes smoothly.”
The operation was completed over a period of six months, with the last piece installed last May.
The $105m bridge is part of the Shindagha Corridor Improvement project, which covers a 13km-long traffic artery. The bridge can accommodate 24,000 vehicles an hour in both directions and also has a 3m-wide track for pedestrians and cyclists.
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