Clement Systems Gulf reveals secrets behind the world's first concrete floating bridge in Dubai

"The 'floating bridge' came to reality due to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, who along with the expertise of the Dubai Road and Transport Authority (RTA), drove our technology to life across the Dubai Creek," said Juergen Clement, Clement Systems Gulf Chief Executive Officer.

"This is the longest floating structure of its kind in the world and will not only help alleviate Dubai's traffic flow, but instill another icon in Dubai's ever growing list of economic and structural achievements."

The inspiration for the technology came to Clement, the founder of Clement Systems, while growing up in Rostock, the largest city in the north Germany on the Baltic Sea. There, he first witnessed a World War II German military relic that drove his imagination. Towards the end of the war, the German military industry had run out of steel to build ships. All the steel was consumed by tanks and fighter airplanes. German engineers took to building concrete river barges that floated due to compressed air trapped within their hulls.

"The technology we developed is based on encasing polystyrene blocks, in this case more than 23,000 square meters, rather than air, with reinforced concrete and coated with polyurea. This method is very safe and provides a very strong, stable, moveable and environmentally friendly solution for Dubai,"

continued Clement.

The 300 meter long bridge - 3.3 meters in height - floats on a harsh saltwater Creek environment which required special construction materials. It was also constructed to withstand wind speeds of up to 160 kilometers per hour and waves of up to 1.8 meters. Moreover the structure dynamically distributes energy from waves and pressure from vehicles across the length and breadth of the platform in such as was that they cancel each other out.

Environmentally speaking, the bridge does not disturb the flow of the water underneath it and allows for barnacles and sea algae to grow, which attracts and sustains existing sea life.

The design of the floating bridge was verified by German Lloyds, and the anchorage of the bridge was stabilized through a specially developed mooring system to ensure stability.