Mammoet, a global market leader in engineered heavy lifting and transport, said it had teamed up with leading crane service provider Aertssen Machinery Services (AMS) for the installation of design elements at the Infinity Bridge in Dubai.

 

Built by Besix Construct, a Middle Eastern subsidiary of a Belgian company Besix, the Infinity Bridge (formerly Al Shindagha bridge) is distinguished by its unique architectural design inspired by the concept of infinity. 

 

It is a distinct landmark that promises to be a showcase of Dubai’s architectural advancements worldwide.

 

Nearly 40 steel segments of its infinity arch, weighing up to 130 tonnes, needed to be installed over the Dubai creek and above the bridge deck, which could not support a suitably sized crane. Therefore, the installation of the segments could only be performed by cranes operating from the creek’s banks, said the statement from Mammoet.

 

To achieve this, the duo deployed the powerful Demag lattice boom crawler cranes: Aertssen with its CC 3800, positioned at the northern side of the creek and Mammoet with its CC 8800-1, positioned on the southern bank.

 

The Infinity Bridge is 300 m long, 22 m wide and sits 15.5 m high above the water level. Its infinity arch rises higher; some 42 m above the creek. 

 

As a result of this, the mid bridge segments would require tandem lifts by two cranes positioned on opposite banks of the creek and with a working radius of 140m.

 

These tandem lifts were performed with the CC 8800-1 handling the majority of the weight – in fact, it could position segments on the opposite side of the bridge, thanks to its main boom length and a large lifting radius.

 

The entire operation was completed over a period of six months, with the last piece of the infinity arch was installed in May this year, said a top official.

 

"Working in partnership with Aertssen, we provided equipment with sufficient capacity and reach, along with specialist engineering to support the operation of the CC 8800-1 to maximise the overall utilisation and its capacity," stated Somnath Bhattacharjee, Crane Operations Manager for Mammoet’s UAE Branch.

 

"Each lift required an extraordinary level of precision as the tolerances for joining the segments were a matter of millimeters. But when you have the right machines and a great team, all goes smoothly," he added.

 

The AED394-million ($105 million) Infinity Bridge project is part of Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority’s Shindagha Corridor Improvement project, which covers a 13km-long road network. 

 

The bridge, which was recently opened, can accommodate 24,000 vehicles per hour in both directions and features a combined three-metre-wide track for pedestrians and cyclists.-TradeArabia News Service