Floating Bridge on Dubai Creek to open in March 2007

Dubai: Dubai is to have a Floating Bridge on the Creek, half-a-kilometer to the south of Al Maktoum Bridge. The six-lane bridge will hold over 6,000 vehicles during peak hours, according to officials of the Road Transport Authority (RTA).

His Highness Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has sanctioned the project.

The project will be tendered in July this year, construction work will begin in September and the project will be completed by March 2007.

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director, RTA, made the announcement at a press conference held today. "The Floating Bridge project is in line with the directives of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, and complements the Authority's efforts aimed at easing the traffic congestion in Dubai. We are constantly conducting studies on possible ways to modernise the transport system in and around Dubai, in addition to keeping abreast of international best practices."

The bridge will stretch across the surface intersection near Deira City Centre and Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club, and will end at the intersection to be built on Riyadh Street between Dubai Courts and Creek Park.

It will provide an additional link between Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road and Oud Metha Road from one side and Al Ittihad Road and Deira from the other.

"The project reflects the strategic plan adopted by the Authority to modernise the transport system and thus allowing us to keep pace with the rapid developments in the emirate and meet the present and future infrastructural needs of the emirate's transport system. In October 2006, we will launch 'Dalili', a service that will give drivers real time road and traffic information that will help them plan their travel route," added Al Tayer.

"The Floating Bridge is a temporary solution until the Authority successfully completes the design and construction of a permanent bridge at the same place," according to Eng. Maitha Bin Adi, CEO of Dubai Traffic and Roads Corporation at RTA.

Integrated system

• The Floating Bridge project is part of an integrated system the RTA is implementing that will reduce the traffic congestion by 37 per cent on Al Maktoum Bridge, on which more than 150,000 vehicles pass each day.
• The number of lanes that cross Dubai Creek will increase from 19 to 38 lanes by 2007 and to 45 lanes by 2008.
• The Authority has completed a study conducted on 10 highly congested areas and will work on measures to ease the congestion in these areas.
• The Floating Bridge, a first-of-its-kind project in the UAE, will be built out of 20-metre-wide hollow concrete blocks that will float on water.
• The rolling segment of the bridge allows the bridge to open and close at intervals of 20 minutes. These opening and closing times will be set in coordination with the authorities regulating the movement of ships and ferries crossing Dubai Creek.
• Ferries will have a side-way passage that will not require the opening and closing of the bridge.