30/08/2019 World Highways - Kuwait’s Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway opens

Kuwait’s Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad Al-

Sabah Causeway opens
First published in World Highways JulyAugust2019 as Kuwait’s silk road causeway

World
Highways
revisits the
world’s
fourth
longest sea
bridge - four
years to
construct
and which
has slashed
travel time
between
Kuwait’s
largest
island and
the capital Kuwait's Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway connects the
city Arab state's capital city with an developed area that will become Silk
City
Kuwait’s
recently
opened Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway is a dream come true that the
government is hoping will make another dream come true. Kuwaiti media
reported in May that the government had inaugurated the US$3.6 billion design-
and-build bridge project. It leads from the capital Kuwait City’s free trade zone to
an uninhabited area set to become another thriving port - Silk City.

Trade is very important for this oil-rich Arab country of around 4.5 million people
on the Persian Gulf – also known as the Arabian Gulf. The tiny country is
surrounded by much larger neighbours – not always friendly. The 36km-long
Sheikh Jaber Causeway is named after the late 13th Emir of Kuwait to
commemorate his contribution to the country’s economic development.

The Madinat al-Hareer - Arabic for Silk City - is a proposed 250km2 urban area in
the Subiya region of north-eastern Kuwait, directly north from Kuwait City across
Kuwait Bay, also known as Jōn al Kuwayt and at the head of the Persian Gulf.
Apart from a free trade zone and seaport, Silk City will have an airport, an
Olympic stadium, a tower (taller than Dubai’s Burj Khalifa) and housing for up to
700,000 people. The cost of this long-term mega development is estimated to be
more than $100 billion – hence the causeway’s strategic importance to the
country.

Local media noted that the Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway, of which
80% is over the waters of Kuwait Bay, is Kuwait’s largest construction project. It
also spearheads the country’s economic reform programme entitled Kuwait 2035,
whereby the country will move towards a non-oil resource-based economy. Much
of the free trade zone development will be done in partnership with China, after
the two countries signed memorandums in the past several years. The vision is
for the causeway to establish Kuwait as an international trading centre connecting
the Middle East with the rest of Asia.

In fact, just
before the
causeway
officially
opened, the
Kuwaiti
government
announced in
February an
$86 billion
first phase of
construction
for the Silk
City. The

Launching girders for the decks across the pylons

announcement came after a visit to Kuwait by a 35-member high-level Chinese

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government delegation that included Ning Jizhe,World
30/08/2019 vice Highways
chair of the Chinese
- Kuwait’s National
Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway opens
Development and Reform Commission, China Communications Construction
Company and China Development Bank. The same organisations are heavily
involved in China’s Belt and Road Initiative that sees Chinese money and
construction companies building infrastructure – not just highways - across Asia
and into Africa and Europe.

Causeway
The causeway was designed by Paris-based engineering and consulting group
Systra and constructed by a consortium led by South Korea's Hyundai
Engineering and Construction along with Kuwait's Combined Group
Contracting (see Who’s Who box). The opening ceremony was attended by
Kuwait's emir (head of state) Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed along with South Korea’s
prime minister Lee Nak-yeon and Gerard Larcher, leader of the French senate.

The overall project has a 100-year service life and entails nearly 49km of road
and bridge work. The 36km Subiya Link starts at Kuwait City’s free port area and
runs north across the bay to the shore of the Subiya region – costing $2.3 billion.
It cuts the 90-minute journey along 104km of coastal roads to around 30
minutes. Works included 3km of onshore bridge structure and roads in Shuwaikh
and 6km of onshore bridge work in the Subiya region.

The 12.4km Doha Link runs from the city’s free port westward across a minor bay
– 4.5km over the water - to the Doha area of the capital city region, all for $545
million.

The causeway carries dual carriageways, each 17m wide for three traffic lanes, an
emergency lane and a hard shoulder. Two artificial islands – one 300,000m² and
the other 600,000m² - were constructed to support the causeway across the bay.

The bridge
incorporates
a supervisory
control and
data
acquisition
(SCADA)
system that
tracks activity
on the bridge.
It operates
with around
600 cameras
to observe
traffic
movements
and any Installation of hybrid girder on main bridge
emergency
issues. The
system also has software and sensors to detect cracks in the concrete
superstructure and act as a weigh-in-motion system to detect vehicle weights
should there be limits for safety reasons. Importantly from a design perspective,
many of the electrical substations and equipment for the SCADA systems and
other electronics for the bridge are inside the bridge decks' structures. This keeps
them away from the highly corrosive environment outside.

Dar Al-Handasah worked as lead consultant on the project working alongside Dar
Group sister companies TY Lin International, Ross & Baruzzini and Currie &
Brown. Dar was the engineer’s representative and the construction supervisor, as
well lead for detailed design review on transportation, GIS, environmental,
geotechnical and marine works.

Main bridge works

The main bridge has the longest span on the project - 177m from pier to pier.
Underneath there is a 120m-wide navigation channel with a 23m vertical
clearance at high tide. It has a composite concrete-steel truss pylon structure
with twin orthotropic slab decks.

The causeway is largely of concrete piles, piers and superstructure. However, the
superstructure deck of the main bridge is mainly steel which received layers of
waterproofing membrane and asphalt. The 340m of orthotropic slab decks forms a
light deck that allows for longer spans than concrete deck slab. A similar steel
deck was used in the Bay Bridge in Oakland, California.

The steel deck and the orthotropic deck were manufactured and mostly
assembled in South Korea, with additional elements attached in Kuwait. The main
bridge deck consists of precast concrete girders, each with a length of 60m; two
prefabricated steel girders, each with a length of 82m; and hybrid
(steel/concrete) girders with lengths 2x64m and 2x74m. The girders are rigidly
attached to the pylon through two connecting cross beams and are free to move
longitudinally where guided sliding pot bearings are installed.
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 30/08/2019 World Highways - Kuwait’s Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway opens
Hot, hot, hot

Dar’s brief from for Kuwait’s Public Authority for Roads & Transportation
(PART) was to ensure a 100-year service life in a challenging coastal marine
environment. This challenging environment – extremely hot and extremely
dry - was also an issue during construction, according to Dar. Summer
temperatures can rise to dangerous levels - reaching on occasion 50° - for
people working on a construction site. High winds and fast approaching
powerful storms are also common. Humidity can range from around 60% in
the coolest month January to as low as 21% in June, the hottest month.

To avoid health and safety risks to the workforce of nearly 7,000 at times,
shifts took place only in the early hours of the morning and at night when
temperatures were relatively cooler than mid-day during June to September.
Arrays of high-powered lights were used to assist night work and special
shields against the sun to create shade were erected when space would
warrant it.

Health and safety was also a concern regarding the bay’s world-renowned
Green Tiger Shrimp that is collected by local fishermen. Hyundai said that it
took the utmost care to preserve the bay’s ecosystem during construction.
The company created an alternative breeding area. This entailed 1,000 rock
and reef blocks to create a habitat that would draw the shrimp away from
construction sites – a very successful strategy that allowed continued
harvesting of the delicacy throughout the construction years.

There also was needed some delicate public relations to be done with the
extremely curious local fishermen keen to see what was going on. Many
would sail perilously close to construction work so they had to be warned of
the dangers and kept well back.

The main
bridge rests
on concrete
piles between
33m and 60m
long. The
piles are
connected at
their top
levels with
pile caps cast
in dry
conditions
under sea
level using
precast
reinforced
concrete shell
forms with
circular and
square cross
sections (PC-
houses). Each
of the two
prefabricated
circular PC-
houses
weighed
1,800tonnes,
were 23m in
Top: main cable-stayed bridge. Bottom: main bridge concrete and diameter and
steel cross sections had a 13m
wall height.

Pylon engineering
The pylon design in the form of a 151m-high sail is a reference to the traditional
boats used in Kuwait. The arche is already a landmark appearing in the middle of
Kuwait Bay. The front section of a the “sail” has a variable section of concrete
(half-circle 7.2m diameter at the base) connected by a steel truss to the steel
back frame of the pylon.

The pylon itself is constructed of a composite system of concrete column

connected to a steel truss by way of steel horizontal and diagonal members. While
it is common to have concrete or steel pylons for cable-stayed bridges, what is
not common is the composite nature of this pylon. The curved steel yellow
members mimic the shape of the old sails.

The main span girders are suspended by eight pairs of stay cables anchored to
the concrete leg of the pylon and to the connecting cross beams between the
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west 30/08/2019
and east deck girders. The pylon’s structural system
World is uncommon
Highways in thatJaber
- Kuwait’s Sheikh it al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway opens
is not stabilised longitudinally by the traditional back stays. The truss structural
system of the pylon enables the omission of traditional back stays.

The longest stay cable on the main span side includes 72 high-strength 7-wire
strands with ultimate capacity of 2,000tonnes, a length of 248m and an external
diameter of 250mm. The shortest stay cable has 55 strands with a maximum
capacity of 1,500tonnes, a length of 38m and an external diameter of 200mm.

There is also a pylon maintenance cradle constructed to give access to the entire
outside surface of the pylon. Strain gauges were provided in the pylon legs and
pylon foundations. Steel temperature sensors and other impact sensors are
provided on the pylon and are part of the overall structural health monitoring
system as part of the SCADA installation.

Sail on

The main cable-stayed bridge has a main span of 177m that creates a
navigation channel 120m wide and 23m high to enable access to Kuwait’s
Doha Port. A 151m-high pylon supports the main bridge - inspired in its
shape by a traditional sailboat and which uses hybrid concrete and steel
structural trusses. Side and main spans of the superstructure are girders
made of precast concrete and prefabricated steel.

The causeway
is one of very
few bridges in
the world that
houses
electrical
rooms inside
a bridge box
girder. This is
so unusual a
design that
finalising its
approval from
the Kuwait’s
ministry of
electricity
was “a The “sail” uses hybrid concrete and steel structural trusses
challenge”.

The main risk to the construction of this type of project is the durability of the
equipment used to install girders. Breakdowns and maintenance downtime can
cause major headaches in such a hostile working environment. On the causeway
project, it was a great achievement not to have any equipment breakdowns which
allowed completion of girder installation on schedule. Also, stainless steel
reinforcement used for concrete elements is subject to oxidation.

The project was completed on budget. It is rare, notes Dar, that a project of this
size is completed without major claims and requests for variation orders. Any
claims for adjustment from the contractor during the close out phase are unlikely
to be major. The main issue is that there were no claims to derail completion of
the project.

Dar Al-Handasah Group

The role of Middle East-based Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners) as lead
consultant:

- Construction supervisor;

- Engineer’s representative;

- Led detailed design review on transportation, GIS, environmental,

geotechnical and marine works.
Dar Group’ sister companies TY Lin International, Ross & Baruzzini were part
of the consultant team:

- TY Lin led the design review of the bridges’ superstructure and

substructure and coordinated the design review of the foundations with Dar
Al-Handasah;

- Ross and Baruzzini reviewed the design of the systems;

- Dar Al-Handasah along with Ross and Baruzzini are helping PART/MPW to
establish the tolling system for the causeway.

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Meanwhile,
30/08/2019local consultant SSH reviewed the design
World of the-buildings
Highways and Jaber al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway opens
Kuwait’s Sheikh
grade works.

Who’s Who

Client – Kuwait Ministry of Public Works;

Consultants - Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners), SSH and

TY Lin International;

Contractor for Subiya Link – A consortium of Hyundai Engineering &

Construction and Combined Group Contracting;

Contractor for Doha Link - GS Engineering & Construction;

Design for Subiya Link - SYSTRA;

Design for Doha Link - Tony Gee and Partners;

ICE for Subiya Link - AECOM;

ICE for Doha Link - SYSTRA;

Foundations - TREVI Foundations Kuwait and Fugro;

Structural and Bridges design review - TY Lin International;

SCADA and intelligent systems review - Ross & Baruzzini;

Also playing major parts were German photonics and light and safety group
Jenoptik, Austrian traffic management and road markings company
Swarco and Italian variable message sign provider Solari.

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