The Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi is an 842 meter long highway bridge designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. It consists of 11 deck spans supported by steel arches and pre-stressed concrete piers. The asymmetric steel arches rise up to 60 meters above the water and support the concrete box girder decks. The central 234 meter long span is supported by a large central pier made of over 5 meters of concrete. It uses a hybrid structure of steel arches and pre-stressed concrete to support the roadway across the wide channel in a continuous and seismic isolated structure.

1. NARSEE MONJEE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND SCIENCE/BALWANT SHETH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL STUDIO
BRIDGES-SHEIKH ZAYED BRIDGE,ABU DHABI
ARCHITECT: Zaha Hadid Architects
PROGRAM: 2 ways four lane highway bridge.
MATERIALS: Piers, Decking: Pre-stressed/Reinforced Concrete
Arches: Steel
The length of the bridge is 842 meters.The bridge
consists of 11 deck span section and three major
arches with four main piers and two additional sets of
supports at the western end.

2. NARSEE MONJEE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND SCIENCE/BALWANT SHETH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL STUDIO
BRIDGES-SHEIKH ZAYED BRIDGE,ABU DHABI
• A sinusoidal waveform provides the structural silhouette shape across the
channel.
• The mainland is the launch pad for the bridge structure emerging from the
ground and approach road.
• The Road decks are cantilevered on each side of the spine structure.
The main bridge arch structure rises to a
height of 60 m above water level with
the road crowning to a height of 20
meters above mean water level.

3. NARSEE MONJEE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND SCIENCE/BALWANT SHETH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL STUDIO
BRIDGES-SHEIKH ZAYED BRIDGE,ABU DHABI
• Steel arches rise and spring from mass
concrete piers asymmetrically, in length,
between the road decks to mark the mainland
and the navigation channels.
• The spine splits and splays from one shore
along the central void position, diverging
under the road decks to the outside of the
roadways at the other end of the bridge.

4. NARSEE MONJEE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND SCIENCE/BALWANT SHETH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL STUDIO
BRIDGES-SHEIKH ZAYED BRIDGE,ABU DHABI
• The central pier alone contains enough concrete to cover a football pitch to a height of five meters.
• The steel arch cross-sections are up to 6 x 8 meters
• Construction of a 800m long bridge linking Abu Dhabi with the mainland has a central span of 234m.
• The main bridge is a hybrid structure, consisting of central steel asymmetric arch ribs supporting pre-
stressed concrete box girder decks.
• At the two main channel piers, the decks are supported by inclined pre-stressed concrete supports,
rising vertically from the pier pile caps.
• The steel arch segments were designed with end-bolted connections, using 75mm Macalloy bars.

5. NARSEE MONJEE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND SCIENCE/BALWANT SHETH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL STUDIO
BRIDGES-SHEIKH ZAYED BRIDGE,ABU DHABI
• The main support structure is continuous
through the bridge, making the locked-in
forces from the sequence of construction an
important consideration.
• Seismic Isolation System was incorporated to
reduce the forces required to connect the
deck to the support structure

6. NARSEE MONJEE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND SCIENCE/BALWANT SHETH SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
CONSTRUCTION AND STRUCTURAL STUDIO
BRIDGES-SHEIKH ZAYED BRIDGE,ABU DHABI