Mammoet, one of the world's largest engineered heavy lifting and transport service providers, said it has played a major role in the bridge work on Shurayrah island as part of Saudi Arabia's mega Red Sea Project.

 

The world's most ambitious and exciting tourism and hospitality project is being developed by The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC) on Saudi Arabia’s west coast, between the cities of Umluj and Al-Wajh.

 

The luxury destination created around one of the world's last hidden natural treasures sits over 28,000 sq km of pristine lands and waters, including a vast archipelago of more than 90 islands. 

 

Its main island - a dolphin shaped Shurayrah Island, will be the gateway to The Red Sea Project, setting the standard for groundbreaking architecture and sustainable design. Shurayrah Bridge - which will stretch 1.2-km long and connect the island to the mainland - will become one of the main access points for guests onto the island.

 

For the design and construction of Shurayrah Island bridge, TRSDC picked up Archirodon, a marine contracting specialist. 

 

According to Mammoet, a precast yard for bridge sections has been established near the coast to minimise travel distances with concrete sourced from on-site batching plants.

 

To handle the transportation and installation of 60 precast bridge-beam and edge-beam segments onto piers Archirodon reached out to Mammoet. 

 

Initially, it was looking at installing the bridge sections by SPMTs on a barge with the help of SPMT’s suspension cylinders to lift and then lower the pre-cast segments on the bridge bearings.

 

However, having studied the project in more detail, Mammoet’s engineering team proposed an alternative installation method by using Mammoet's mobile floating crane concept: MTC 15 crane positioned on a barge, thereby creating a 500t capacity containerized floating sheer leg with an outreach of 30m. 

 

This installation method would provide significant time savings to the client as it will allow them to build the bridge faster by installing one section a day instead of one in two days, and provide more flexibility and accuracy to the operation.  

 

Mammoet pointed out that the MTC 15 comes in standard shipping containers and can be easily shipped to any port, then assembled and erected in a matter of days. 

 

Archirodon’s 210-class barge with a suitable deck load was available at the site, this minimized the costs associated with mobilization of a new barge, and reduced the environmental harm by using readily available local resources.

 

The MTC 15 was shipped to the Port of Yanbu, where it was swiftly assembled on the barge and then sailed to the project site in Umluj, where its boom was then raised, ready to lift the 400t bridge sections, it stated.

 

At the precast yard, Mammoet’s SBL1100 hydraulic gantry, a four-point lifting system, lifts a section and safely places it onto SPMTs for the transport to a new temporary jetty. 

 

At the jetty, the MTC-15 crane on the barge then lifts the segment from the trailers, places the segment on the bow while on hook and then floats off to the installation area. Once at the location the segment is skillfully placed onto bearings on crossheads of piers and the floating crane returns for the next section to repeat the process.

 

On the successful operation, Abdul Rouf, Manager Sales for Mammoet Saudi Arabia, said: "The combination of creative engineering with a flexible innovative equipment enables Mammoet to offer this unique tailor-made solution for the customer that saved significant time."

 

"Moreover, the decreased handling time made this method of operation safer and eliminated the need to build an additional temporary infrastructure. Our collaboration with the client optimized the overall project schedule and ultimately kept the customer’s budget," he stated.

 

Jacques Stoof, Mammoet's Global Director Market Development and Innovation said: "We always work closely with the customers to listen and understand their requirements to be able to offer the most efficient solutions."

 

"MTC 15 on a barge or a containerised floating sheer leg is a testament to that as it provides a simple yet effective way to lift heavy loads, both inland and in coastal waters and can be perfectly suitable to any civil project, on any local river or a lake," he added.-TradeArabia News Service