A new bridge is foreseen as part of the Third Ring Road of Makkah Project in Saudi Arabia that serves as the new crossing over the Jamarat area, west of the holy site for Muslims, as part of the development of the whole Hajj area. The in-situ concrete construction is conceived as a slender extradosed structure, consisting of two separate bridges, with an open cross section with two main longitudinal girders in post tensioned concrete.
The main span crosses the pedestrian area leading to the Jamarat site from west to east. The side span to the north is 90 m, while the side span on the south presents a variable length, ranging from ca. 74 m on the west to ca. 92 m to the east. A series of smaller spans of up to 44 m complete the bridge on the south, with short connection to the on/off ramps. Each bridge deck is a continuous structure between the abutments. The main span and the two side spans are carried by extradosed cables.
The cross section of the bridge consists of two main edge girders
with variable width, which are aligned with the cable planes, and a series of transversal girders. The deck is monolithically connected to the mast and supported on sliding spherical bearings at the intermediate piers.
The design is the result of a conscious and rigorous conceptual design process, that took into consideration the special context and boundary conditions, in some cases, quite unusual for a road bridge. The slender and elegant bridge fits in the context, providing an iconic, yet subtle reference to this important site.
