• The late president Sheikh Khalifa returns a pair of scissors he used to cut the ceremonial ribbon symbolising the formal opening of the Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi, on November 28, 2010. Photo: Wam
    The late president Sheikh Khalifa returns a pair of scissors he used to cut the ceremonial ribbon symbolising the formal opening of the Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi, on November 28, 2010. Photo: Wam
  • Sheikh Zayed Bridge under construction on August 8, 2008. Stephen Lock/The National
    Sheikh Zayed Bridge under construction on August 8, 2008. Stephen Lock/The National
  • The bridge under construction in Abu Dhabi on March 4, 2009. Designed by Zaha Hadid, the bridge took seven years to build. Sammy Dallal/The National
    The bridge under construction in Abu Dhabi on March 4, 2009. Designed by Zaha Hadid, the bridge took seven years to build. Sammy Dallal/The National
  • Work under way on the main arch of Sheikh Zayed Bridge on October 14, 2009. Jaime Puebla/The National
    Work under way on the main arch of Sheikh Zayed Bridge on October 14, 2009. Jaime Puebla/The National
  • Construction on the arches of Sheikh Zayed Bridge on April 28, 2010. They required more than 12,000 tonnes of steel and 250,000 cubic metres of concrete. Jaime Puebla/The National
    Construction on the arches of Sheikh Zayed Bridge on April 28, 2010. They required more than 12,000 tonnes of steel and 250,000 cubic metres of concrete. Jaime Puebla/The National
  • The bridge on October 11, 2010, a day before it was set to open on October 12, 2010. The National
    The bridge on October 11, 2010, a day before it was set to open on October 12, 2010. The National
  • The Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi in its final stage of construction. The National
    The Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi in its final stage of construction. The National
  • The bridge pictured a month before it officially opened. It has three arches and four traffic lanes on each side. Rich-Joseph Facun/The National
    The bridge pictured a month before it officially opened. It has three arches and four traffic lanes on each side. Rich-Joseph Facun/The National
  • Final touches are carried out on Sheikh Zayed Bridge a month from its inauguration. Rich-Joseph Facun/The National
    Final touches are carried out on Sheikh Zayed Bridge a month from its inauguration. Rich-Joseph Facun/The National
  • One of the three arches of Sheikh Zayed Bridge, inspired by the sand dunes of the desert and waves beneath. Pictured in October 2010, just before the bridge opened to traffic. Lee Hoagland/The National
    One of the three arches of Sheikh Zayed Bridge, inspired by the sand dunes of the desert and waves beneath. Pictured in October 2010, just before the bridge opened to traffic. Lee Hoagland/The National
  • Sheikh Zayed Bridge in October 2010. The design, by Zaha Hadid, was a challenge to build. Lee Hoagland/The National
    Sheikh Zayed Bridge in October 2010. The design, by Zaha Hadid, was a challenge to build. Lee Hoagland/The National
  • Sheikh Zayed Bridge in October 2010. The bridge took seven years to complete after a brief pause in construction in 2008. Lee Hoagland/The National
    Sheikh Zayed Bridge in October 2010. The bridge took seven years to complete after a brief pause in construction in 2008. Lee Hoagland/The National
  • Workers on the bridge on October 24, 2010. Lee Hoagland/ The National
    Workers on the bridge on October 24, 2010. Lee Hoagland/ The National
  • Sheikh Zayed Bridge was inaugurated by the late president Sheikh Khalifa with Queen Elizabeth II of the UK in attendance. Lee Hoagland/The National
    Sheikh Zayed Bridge was inaugurated by the late president Sheikh Khalifa with Queen Elizabeth II of the UK in attendance. Lee Hoagland/The National

How the 'most complicated bridge' was built in Abu Dhabi


James Langton
  • English
  • Arabic

They are some of the buildings that define the UAE. But what is the story behind them? In the second part of our summer series celebrating the country’s architecture, we look into how the landmark Sheikh Zayed Bridge, designed by Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid, was built.

Seventy years ago this year, workers finished pouring hundreds of tonnes of rocks and concrete into the waters of the Maqta narrows. Finally it was possible to cross from the island of Abu Dhabi to the mainland without getting your feet wet.

The Maqta Causeway might have seemed crude and visually unappealing, but for the next decade and a half it remained the only way to reach the interior of the UAE that was not subjected to the tides.

As Abu Dhabi grew from little more than a fishing village to a burgeoning city, the causeway was replaced in 1968 with the steel span and tarmac of the Maqta Bridge.

Even this would eventually prove inadequate. The Musaffah Bridge was built in 1977, and in 2000, a second span was added to the Maqta Bridge, effectively doubling its capacity.

And still the city grew. In 1997, looking to the future, the city commissioned a third bridge that would meet the demands of traffic until well into the 21st century. It would take another 13 years to complete.

To be called the Sheikh Zayed Bridge, it would cross the Maqta at the eastern entrance to the Arabian Gulf in a single span, connecting to the six-lane motorway to Dubai. The Eastern Corniche — now known as Al Gurm Corniche — would be expanded and widened, and a new stretch of motorway completed from Shahama.

The architect chosen was the brilliant if unconventional Zaha Hadid, born in Baghdad and then a British citizen. As Artichoke magazine noted a year after its opening in 2010: “The bridge bears all the usual hallmarks of Hadid’s work: structural challenges, phenomenal delays and an iconic final result.”

Zaha Hadid designed Sheikh Zayed Bridge, taking inspiration from the surrounding landscape and her childhood in Baghdad. Photo: AP
Zaha Hadid designed Sheikh Zayed Bridge, taking inspiration from the surrounding landscape and her childhood in Baghdad. Photo: AP

Hadid, who died of a heart attack aged 56 in 2016, had her own vision of the project. It began, she explained, with a study of the landscape and environment of the site.

“We draw certain lines of connections with the local environment and use these to inform our design. This ‘embeds’ the design into its surroundings so that each project has the strongest possible relationship with its unique context.

“We are not thinking so much of metaphor, but more in terms of analogy — the landscape analogy — where features of a natural landscape are expressed within the architectural design.”

There were influences, also, of her childhood in Baghdad. “When I was a child, we used to take along picnics for trips to the ruins of Samarra where the Tigris and Euphrates meet in southern Iraq.

“You stand there, and there is timelessness. You see the rivers and trees and you know that 10,000 years ago it was like that. There was this amazing flow between the land and the water that extended to incorporate the buildings and the people.

“I think that perhaps what I am trying to do is capture that kind of seamlessness and flow in an urban architectural context.”

The result was effectively an arch bridge, with a suspended deck supported by a series of dramatic sweeping curves that echoed desert sand dunes above and the waves of the Gulf below. It was visually stunning — but only on paper at that point.

Construction began in 2003. The bridge would be 852 metres long, nearly twice that of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, rising to a height of 64m. Those dramatic steel arches required 12,000 tonnes of steel and 250,000 cubic metres of concrete to be poured above and below ground.

The work was carried out mainly by Archirodon Construction, although late in the project Six Construction took over. For the first three years, workers toiled to drive piles and lay the foundations. It was, some claimed, the most complicated bridge ever built.

The first sections of arch rose in 2006, but work stalled during the financial crisis of 2008, leaving them hanging over empty space.

Construction under way on Sheikh Zayed Bridge on March 4, 2009. Sammy Dallal / The National
Construction under way on Sheikh Zayed Bridge on March 4, 2009. Sammy Dallal / The National

Roy Lengweiler, a Swiss-born project manager for Archiroden, saw first-hand the extraordinary physical labour required to realise Hadid’s vision.

“I would like everyone to appreciate the hard work of these people and to give them the credit they deserve,” he told The National in 2010. “Once the bridge is finished or, indeed, if you look at it now, it is difficult to comprehend the scale of what has been constructed.”

A decade later, he reflected the bridge was “unparalleled in complexity”.

The architecture, though, is only part of the bridge’s “wow” factor. As far back at 1998, it was decided that lighting would play a major part of its appearance after dark.

Roger van der Heide, a Dutch lighting designer, was brought in to work with Hadid, although it would be 13 years before his vision became reality.

The result, though, was spectacular. Six hundred automatic lights bathe the bridge in an ever-changing palate of colour described as a “language of light” that represents the people and culture of the UAE. At every new moon, it is coloured deep blue, like the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

The bridge was officially opened on November 25, 2010, by the late president Sheikh Khalifa, and attended by the UK's Queen Elizabeth II, who was on her second state visit to the UAE. Traffic flowed for the first time three days later.

Eight decades after the first humble crossing of the Maqta channel, it will be a tough act to follow.

A version of this article was first published on July 24, 2022

FIGHT INFO

Men’s 60kg Round 1:

Ahmad Shuja Jamal (AFG) beat Krisada Takhiankliang (THA) - points 
Hyan Aljmyah (SYR) beat Akram Alyminee (YEM) - retired Round 1
Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) beat Bhanu Pratap Pandit (IND) - TKO Round 1

Men’s 71kg Round 1:
Seyed Kaveh Soleyman (IRI) beat Abedel Rahman (JOR) - RSC round 3.
Amine Al Moatassime (UAE) walk over Ritiz Puri (NEP)

RIVER%20SPIRIT
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAuthor%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ELeila%20Aboulela%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Saqi%20Books%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPages%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAvailable%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 (PA) | US$95,000 | (Dirt) 2,000m
7.05pm: Meydan Classic Listed (TB) ) | $175,000) | (Turf) 1,600m
7.40pm: Handicap (TB) ) | $135,000 ) | (D) 1,600m
8.15pm: Nad Al Sheba Trophy Group 3 (TB) ) | $300,000) | (T) 2,810m
8.50pm: Curlin Handicap Listed (TB)) | $160,000) | (D) 2,000m
9.25pm: Handicap (TB)) | $175,000) | (T) 1,400m
10pm: Handicap (TB) ) | $135,000 ) | (T) 2,000m

COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20ASI%20(formerly%20DigestAI)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202017%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Quddus%20Pativada%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Artificial%20intelligence%2C%20education%20technology%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%243%20million-plus%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GSV%20Ventures%2C%20Character%2C%20Mark%20Cuban%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go

The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road. 

The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
 

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
PROFILE OF HALAN

Started: November 2017

Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport and logistics

Size: 150 employees

Investment: approximately $8 million

Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar

Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026

1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years

If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.

2. E-invoicing in the UAE

Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption. 

3. More tax audits

Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks. 

4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime

Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.

5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit

There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.

6. Further transfer pricing enforcement

Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes. 

7. Limited time periods for audits

Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion. 

8. Pillar 2 implementation 

Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.

9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services

Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations. 

10. Substance and CbC reporting focus

Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity. 

Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

Naga
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EMeshal%20Al%20Jaser%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3EAdwa%20Bader%2C%20Yazeed%20Almajyul%2C%20Khalid%20Bin%20Shaddad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E4%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Fitness problems in men's tennis

Andy Murray - hip

Novak Djokovic - elbow

Roger Federer - back

Stan Wawrinka - knee

Kei Nishikori - wrist

Marin Cilic - adductor

The specs

Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder

Power: 220 and 280 horsepower

Torque: 350 and 360Nm

Transmission: eight-speed automatic

Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT 

On sale: now

The Birkin bag is made by Hermès. 
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.

What sanctions would be reimposed?

Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:

  • An arms embargo
  • A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
  • A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
  • A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
  • Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Updated: August 14, 2023, 7:25 AM