Located between Abu Dhabi Island and the mainland, Sheikh Zayed Bridge is a 842-meter-long masterpiece that was completed earlier this year.

Created by Zaha Hadid Architects, the Sheikh Zayed Bridge comprises several arching waves of reinforced concrete that support a four-lane highway. Colored lights illuminate the bridge after dark and it is quickly becoming a destination in itself and potential catalyst in the future urban growth of Abu Dhabi.

Zaha Hadid Architects completed a number of spectacular projects this year in addition to the Sheikh Zayed Bridge including the London 2012 Aquatics Center and the zigzagging Riverside Museum in Glasgow.

The architects note that a collection, or strands of structures, gathered on one shore are lifted and ‘propelled’ over the length of the channel. A sinusoidal waveform provides the structural silhouette shape across the channel. The mainland was the Launchpad for the bridge structure emerging from the ground and approach road. Massive 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 main bridge arch structure rises to a height of 60 meters above water level with the road crowning to a height of 20 meters above mean water level.

Consultants from London and Amsterdam (Rendel Palmer Tritton and Hollands Licht) contributed to the project.

Source: Dezeen

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