A Bridge to the "Island of Happiness"

Saadiyat Bridge Project in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Detailed and construction engineering for an international large-scale bridge project

Dipl.-Ing. Peter Seitz, Dipl.-Ing. Holger Hauser, Dipl.-Ing. Nico Schmidt, Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Werner Kuhnlein

1. Generals
The United Arab Emirates are located on the Ara-
bian Peninsula on the Persian Gulf. Abu Dhabi is
the largest of the seven Emirates and its capital also
serves as the country's capital.

Abb. 1: Map of the United Arab Emirates

The UAE only gained independence in 1971. Its
population is amongst the fastest growing in the
world. Local petroleum reserves are among the
largest and are the source of the emirate's wealth.
Income from oil exports are used for an extensive
development programme centred on improving
infrastructure.
Individual cars constitute the main mode of trans-
portation and vehicular traffic has grown signifi-
cantly in the last years.
Abb. 2: Future development of Saadiyat Island
Two bridges and a tunnel will connect the island
with the mainland and the international airport lo-
cated only 25 kilometers away.
K+S were entrusted with the detailed and construc-
tion engineering for one of these large-scale proj-
ects. The task was performed in cooperation with
partner office SRP while most of the foundation
engineering was done by Zblin.

In the north east of Abu Dhabi, about 500 m off the

coast, lies the 2700 hectare large "Saadiyat" Island
(or "Island of Happiness"). This island is being de-
veloped as a tourist resort with hotels, luxury villas
and condominiums as well as parks, golf courses,
malls and museums.
2. The Design
The overall structure has a total length of 1455m.
The bridge can be divided into six separate struc-
tures, so-called Units.

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 Abb. 3: Visualization of the bridge

Unit 1 starts from the Abu Dhabi side with span

lengths of 8 x 55 m and a constant girder depth of
3.60m. Then follows Unit 2 with spans of 100m-
200m-135m-70m-45m across the shipping lane and
the necessary navigation channel. The girder depth
is variable up to a maximum of 10.25m at the inte-
rior piers.

Abb. 4: Overview of the overall structure and the comprising Units

Both bridge units are erected as three parallel box
girders. These separate boxes are later connected
laterally by a 88 cm wide longitudinal joint. This
results in a total roadway width of 53.6 m for 5 lanes
in each direction as well as shoulders. Along the
centreline a 9.40 m wide corridor is kept for an op-
tional commuter rail.
The box girders are prestressed transversely with
50% of the tendons spanning across a single box
and the remaining 50% spanning continuously
across all three.

Abb. 5: Standard cross section Unit 1 Incremental launching with transverse prestressing

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The roadway divides along Unit 3. This superstruc-
ture which spans about 2 x 50 m is designed as
Abb. 6: Standard cross section Unit 3 Span-by-span erection on falsework
Units 4, 5 and 6 with spans of no more than 55 m
each connect to the branching section. The single-
cell box girders with constant depth carry the di-
vided lanes to the island side. Unit 5 carries the
commuter rail on the middle superstructure. The box
girders are not connected transversely on this side
of the bridge. The two ramps making up Unit 6 lead
traffic onto or off the bridge.
Precast segmental erection of Units 1 and 4 through
6 was originally planned while Unit 2 was to be cast
in place as balanced cantilevers with Unit 3 also
cast in place but on falsework.
3. Alternative Design Proposal
The author of the original design was PARSONS
International Ltd.
Differing from standard practice in Germany, inter-
national projects of this scale are often almost fully
designed before a contractor is chosen such that
very detailed drawings are available during tender.
The contracting party is only required to provide
shop or working drawings for actual erection.
The precast segmental construction method is
widely used internationally. The deck is erected
using precast sections and stressed to each other
using external tendons. Most of the original design
was based on this erection method. However, this
method also requires heavy machinery and shoring
to lift the massive concrete elements and to keep
them in place until the segments can be
prestressed. The supply of these machines would
Umrisse_English_final.doc
a multiple hollow box girder with 14 cells and a
constant girder depth of 3.50m.
have been very costly and the eventual contractor
looked for a more cost-effective alternative solution.
DYWIDAG Bau GmbH as a subcontractor to the
Joint venture of Zblin/Saif Bin Darwish initially
hired K+S to check the quantities provided in the
tender documents where all specifications were
given as lump sums. The check yielded significant
differences, i.e. the tendered quantities were very
low.
In consequence, K+S made an alternative, value-
added design proposal where Unit 1 was erected
using the incremental launching method. Units 4, 5
and 6 were all to be cast in place on falsework. A
commonly used mix of internal bonded prestressing
combined with external tendons within the box
girder was also proposed.
Units 2 and 3 remained unchanged as cast-in-place
structures, although the staging of Unit 2 was ad-
justed to fit the available form travellers. Longitudi-
nal joints were added in Unit 3 to allow for construc-
tion in three stages which significantly reduced the
formwork requirements for the soil-supported scaf-
folding.
The footings were optimized as well as part of the
value added design.
4. Geology and Soil Conditions
One of the main prerequisites for petroleum depos-
its are sedimentary rock layers formed from sand
under very high pressure. The entire island is based
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on sedimentary rocks with sand formations above.
The rock base is interspersed with voids. Further
down a 2-4 m deep gypsum layer offers good bear-
ing capacity which is however lost when it is washed
out by water infiltration. Hence the foundations had
to be located either above or below but not inside of
that layer.
The foundations were then executed as large bored
piles of 1.20 m and 1.50 m diameter. As most of the
piles are in water, they were fully encased. The
maximum pile length is roughly 30 m and the bear-
ing capacity of the pile foundation was increased
using detailed calculations as part of the optimiza-
tion process.
During tender, documents from extensive soil inves-
tigations were available in two independent reports.
The pile resistance based on load tests according to
these reports was given at 4200 kN with a safety
factor. A fixed number of piles had to be tested after
their completion to corroborate this load with an
allowable maximum settlement of 12 mm.
5. General Design Constraints
The bridge shall be completed by the end of 2009
while one of the three superstructures must already
be fully operational for two-way traffic by the middle
of the year. The detailed design was therefore per-
formed under high time pressure to complete the
calculations and drawings with sufficient advance.
The design of the entire structure was required to
be performed according to AASHTO (American Associa-
tion of State Highway and Transportation Officials) Standards.
These standards are based similar to Eurocode
and corresponding DIN codes on partial safety
factors. They are also much easier to handle than
DIN codes. Fortunately, the known SI units (meters,
Newtons) were prescribed, although all documents
analysis, drawings and method statements had
to be provided in English. Documents were provided
and managed electronically throughout the project.
The calculations and drawings were checked by the
original designer using a review process. Special
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attention was paid to compliance with the initial
design parameters.
Spanning the open sea, the bridge structure is sub-
ject to a highly corrosive environment which re-
quired special protection for the reinforcement. The
entire reinforcing is covered with a protective coat-
ing made of epoxy. Due to the diminished bonding
characteristics, however, a 20% increase in lap and
anchor lengths is necessary. Screwed connections
and re-bending of bars onsite must also be avoided.
Abb. 7: Epoxy-coated reinforcing
The prestressing tendons were supplied by a for-
eign subcontractor but Zblin/Saif Bin Darwish de-
cided not to use a complete standard prestressing
system. Instead the various components were com-
bined as if using building blocks. Every detail e.g.
ducts and saddles had to be planned in detail.
Grouting of the bonded tendons was also worked
out in detail. All components were mounted on site,
tested and then installed. Another special feature is
the grouting of the external tendons with cement
instead of grease. They can thus not be replaced at
a later date, but provisions were made to install
additional tendons of 31 and 25 strands.
The bridge is located in a seismic zone. The accel-
eration coefficient of 0.07 g applicable to this region
falls into AASHTO's lowest category A (or 1). This
category only requires some minimal checks with
regard to minimum support lengths as well as bear-
ings designed for 20% of the vertical load. This is
meant to ensure that the superstructure does not
slip off the bearings during a seismic event.
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In direct proximity of Mina Zayed port, the bridge
spans a navigable channel with a high amount of
ship traffic. Piers within the sea therefore also had
to be design for ship collision.

6. Special Features of Unit 1 In-

cremental Launching
As the original gradient in the area of Unit 1 did not
have a constant curvature, the alignment had to be
adjusted for this construction method. A circular
curve was chosen as compensatory gradient. The
slight deviations from the design gradient at the
ends of the superstructure were then adjusted
through the girder depth of the deck. Together with
PARSONS International Limited, a good technical
solution could be found.

The deck is produced in a casting facility, the so-

called launching port, located in front of the abut-
ment. The deck is launched uphill. Due to the
maximum longitudinal slope of 4.7% slippage and
friction forces of corresponding magnitude had to be
overcome. As these could not be carried by the
abutment alone, two inclined compression struts
were used to transfer the loads into the ground. The
struts end in concrete slabs that are covered with
earth to create sufficient friction for load transfer into
the soil.
Abb. 8: Erection of the launching abutment with com-
pression struts
Abb. 9: View of the launching abutment towards Abu
Dhabi with the launching nose on the right.
The first and last stages of the deck are launched
with a special mechanism as the vertical load is
insufficient.
The deck cross section was also adjusted for the
incremental launching method. According to the
original design, the webs have an unusually steep
inclination at 68. This sloping is continued into the
pier heads for aesthetical reasons. With a web
thickness of only 45cm in the original design, this
would have caused problems with the load transfer
at the launching bearings. As the exterior envelope
could not be changed, the webs were widened
inwards near the bottom slab to 65 cm. The pier
head was also adjusted for the same reason. To
improve the load transfer, the exterior of the pier is
vertical over 30 cm from the top while the slope is
continued again below. The resulting kink is barely
visible.

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Abb. 10: Deck cross section for incremental launching
with pier head and launching bearing
7. Special Features of Unit 2 Bal-
anced Cantilever
The entire Unit 2 consists of 3 times 4 balanced
cantilevers that span up to 200 m between the piers
of axes 10 and 11. The actual span of the girder is
reduced by the V-like shape of the main piers to
merely 173.2 m. The two smaller cantilevers off
axes 12 and 13 only reach spans of 70 m. A total of
16 form travellers will be used simultaneously.
Abb. 11: Elevation of Unit 2 Four balanced cantilevers
The V-shaped piers with pier table are clad with a
faade of fibre cement plates for architectural rea-
sons. This highly aesthetic element will result in a
visually very elegant bridge structure.
Abb. 12: Visualization of the V-shaped piers at axes
10 and 11 clad with fibre cement plates
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At the ends connecting to Units 1 and 3 approxi-
mately 11 m of deck remain which are cast in place
using formwork that is suspended from the cantile-
vers on one side and supported by the pier on the
other.
The girder depth varies from 3.50 m at mid-span to
10.25 m at the pier tables. For the smaller cantile-
vers the depth remains a constant 3.50 m.
The originally envisioned construction method the
balanced cantilever method was kept in the alter-
native proposal. The construction engineering as-
pects consisted primarily in optimizing the construc-
tion process and providing more economic reinforc-
ing arrangements. The construction process was
laid out in tight cooperation with the subcontracting
company DYWIDAG Bau GmbH.
As mentioned earlier, the original design was pro-
duced by PARSONS International Limited. As
commonly done in international projects, the design
drawings including all reinforcing drawings were
already available. The consultant to DYWIDAG Bau
GmbH responsible for the civil engineering as-
pects in the ZBLIN/Saif Bin Darwish JV thus only
had to produce working or shop drawings (with bar
schedules) as part of the detailed and construction
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engineering. Additionally, deflection calculations
and all required checks for the construction stages
needed to be supplied. As the structural analysis
was not provided by the designer, the analysis of
Unit 2 had to be performed in its entirety.
A significant reduction in production time for the
balanced cantilevers was achieved by fully utilizing
the maximum allowable load of the form travellers
which resulted in longer segment lengths as origi-
nally designed. Overall, the number of segments
was reduced by 72.
Abb. 13: Starter reinforcement at V-shaped pier
A significant amount of steel was also saved by
adjusting the reinforcement to the force distribution
in both arms of the V-shaped piers. The design
drawings had provided for a constant reinforcing
layer calculated for the maximum moment instead.
Abb. 15: 3D model of the three parallel balanced cantilevers at axes 10 and 11
As large temperature loadings and related deforma-
tions are to be expected during construction of the
balanced cantilevers, the determination of the tem-
perature gradient during adjustment of the form
travellers and height surveys is of utmost impor-
tance. Temperature sensors are provided accord-
ingly and analyzed constantly.
Umrisse_English_final.doc
Abb. 14: Prestressing Tendons in deck slab
In addition to the optimization tasks, K+S provided
all necessary calculations and checks for all the
construction stages as well as the deflection calcu-
lations which were very complex due the large
number of individual stages. Another complexity
consisted in levelling out the three parallel super-
structures equally in order to be able to cast the
closure joints. The deflection calculations take into
account a total of 191 different construction stages.
Due to the varying ages of construction and differ-
ent standstill periods until closure the pre-camber
values for the three box girders also differed for
most construction stages. To make camber calcula-
tions at all practicable, longitudinal closure is always
achieved before the transverse closure in order to
avoid changing the stiffness distribution by intro-
ducing additional disparities between the sections to
be joined. The maximum pre-camber is roughly
25 cm while the maximum deflection of a cantilever
arm at casting of the last segment is around 8 cm.
Design and assembly of the formwork for the con-
struction of the V-shaped piers and the pier tables
posed a significant challenge as well. The very large
pier tables of 39 m length and 10.25 m depth at
heights of up to 30 m required special solutions to
maximize economy for formwork installation and
concreting.
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Abb. 16: Construction stages of V-shaped piers and
pier tables
The V-shaped piers of 7 m width and 3 m depth are
erected in 4 roughly 5 m long segments using a re-
usable formwork propped up to bear on a steel
beam grid placed onto the pile cap. Strand tendons
are also introduced after the second and fourth
stages in order to reduce the moment at the bases
of the pier arms.
In cooperation with DYWIDAG Bau GmbH and
DOKA and after numerous concept designs, a pro-
cess was developed for concreting the pier tables
that reduced the required shoring to a minimum.
This process provides for erection of the pier tables
in four stages:
Working platforms needed for construction of the
webs and the cantilever arms of the deck slab
consist of girder grids placed on either side of the V-
shaped piers at the soffit level of the bottom slab.
The girders used in the erection of the piers are re-
used in this shoring. The supports for the working
platform consist of brackets made up of rolled sec-
tions and placed against the pier arms. Their end
faces are capped with steel plates and they are
stressed to the corresponding plate on the opposite
face of the pier arm using prestressing bars.
The fresh concrete loads of the bottom half of the
web (2nd stage) are also carried by the shoring, but
these loads are smaller than the previously cast
bottom slab, and the prestressed girder grid is not
subject to higher loads.
The vertical loads from the fresh concrete of the
upper web half (3rd stage) and the deck slab (4th
stage) are then supported by the existing partial
sections. The horizontal concrete loads of the third
stage are supported by shoring towers used as
pylons in between the webs. To avoid an "opening
up" of the webs from eccentric loading during cast-
ing of the cantilever arms, 20mm prestressing bars
spaced every 1.50 m connect the webs to each
other.

Entire bottom slab

Web to half height
Web to full height
Entire deck slab

Only the weight of the 1.90 m thick bottom slab (1st

stage) then needs to be supported by exterior
shoring elements. For all further stages (2 through
4) the loads can be transferred to the sufficiently
stiff partial section created by the previously erected Abb. 18: Piers at axes 12 during erection
stage.

For the casting of the bottom slab, steel consoles

are mounted to the inside faces of the V-shaped
piers which support a steel girder grid made up of
rolled sections located in between the pier arms. On
the exterior, a truss structure stressed to the pier
carries the loads of the cantilevering parts of the
bottom slab.

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 Project participants

Owner:
8. Bridge Data
Construction Cost: ca. 145 Mio EUR
Construction phase: 2006-2009
Bridge length: 1455m
Design:
Bridge surface: ca. 85.000m2
Main span length: 200m
Girder depth: 3.50-10.25m
Bridge height: max. ca. 31m
Joint Venture:

Partner of the Joint Venture:

Bau GmbH

Foundation Design and Construction:

Ground Engineering

Value Added Design / Alternate Proposal:

Construction supervision and checking engineering:

Engineering Joint Venture:

Ingenieur-Consult GmbH

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