Bridge No. 7 plan aims to ease Dubai traffic woes

BRING REPLACED: The Dubai Smile bridge will replace the Floating Bridge in Dubai.

Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, has approved the design of the seventh crossing to span Dubai Creek - a project designed to ease traffic congestion in the city.

The project, which will cost 810 million dirhams ($220 million), will be located near Dubai Creek Park, Wonderland Park and Dubai Courts at Bur Dubai, and Deira City Centre and Dubai Golf Club at Deira, news agency WAM reported.

Matar Al-Tayer, RTA chairman of the Board and executive director, said: "The seventh crossing ranks among the unique and landmark projects undertaken by the RTA, which aims to ease traffic flow across Dubai Creek."

Specialised global companies were invited to submit architectural designs and the winning concept of an inverted metal arch - hence the nickname the Dubai Smile bridge - best reflected the rocketing urban development of Dubai, a statement said.

The crossing, which will replace the existing Floating Bridge, will consist of 12 lanes (six in each direction) and a footpath in each direction.

The width of the bridge is about 61.6 metres and the arch rises to 100 metres.

The bridge can accommodate around 24,000 vehicles per hour.

The project also includes upgrading the Airport Interchange by building a four-lane underpass to serve the traffic inbound from Al-Garhoud Bridge towards Sharjah while maintaining the existing underpasses but re-routing them to serve the traffic inbound from Sharjah towards Al-Garhoud Bridge.

A new bridge will also be constructed to serve the traffic inbound from Sharjah Al-Nahdah and Al-Mamzar towards Dubai International Airport in addition to another two-lane bridge to serve traffic inbound from Port Saeed and Al-Garhoud areas.

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READERS' COMMENTS

The Dubai Smile?
Posted by Jon, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 18 November 2008 at 08:49 UAE time


Ok Ok; at least it's not called "The Dubai Bridge"

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