Dubai entities sign bridge construction deal

14 September 2023

Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has signed an agreement with local developer Nakheel to construct a bridge connecting the offshore Dubai Islands development with Bur Dubai.

The 1,425-metre-long bridge has been planned for several years. It will have four lanes in each direction and will be built between the Infinity Bridge and Port Rashid.

It will be 15.5 metres above the Dubai Creek waterline with a 75-metre-wide canal allowing tall ships to pass. The project is set to be completed in 2026.

It is part of the larger AED5.3bn ($1.4bn) Shindagha Corridor Improvement Project, which is split into five phases and includes the construction of 15 intersections spanning 13 kilometres in total. US firm Parsons is the consultant for the Shindagha Corridor scheme.

In 2018, the local Wade Adams Contracting was awarded another contract to build road access bridges to Dubai Islands, then called Deira Islands.

Development of the offshore islands was given renewed impetus in 2022 when Nakheel released details of a new masterplan and changed the name to Dubai Islands.

The reclaimed islands were originally part of the Palm Deira project that was partially completed and then put on hold in 2008.

Dubai Islands comprises five islands with a total area of 17 square kilometres. The initial renderings show that the development plans are more low-rise than the earlier Deira Islands scheme, and a golf course has been added to the masterplan.

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Colin Foreman
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