Mammoet says it has completed the lifting and installation of 16 steel girders that will form the base of the new Fountain View Link-Bridge which is being built as part of an extension to the Dubai Mall.
The Dutch heavy-lift specialist was contracted by contractor Eversendai to assist in the erection of the new bridge which will connect the existing mall to a new section. The Fountain View Link-Bridge will be home to retail outlets and provide a walkway to further parking.
The project constrains meant the crane needed to have a minimal footprint and low ground bearing pressure. Mammoet’s LR1750 crawler crane was the only available crane in the UAE that complied with all technical requirements. It installed the girders, weighing between 83t and 172t in two sections.
The lifts were carried out on Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, the main road that runs around Dubai Mall.
With only two out of six lanes closed to minimize disruption to traffic, the crane had to manoeuvre in a tight space.
In a statement, Mammoet added: “And there was another engineering challenge: water pipes underneath the area of operation supply Dubai Mall and the whole of Down Town Dubai. To avoid damaging them, it was imperative that the crane kept within the ground bearing pressure tolerance. Careful engineering calculations were made for the lifts to ensure that the LR1750 could lift the girders and manoeuvre in to place without nearing traffic, or going over the ground bearing pressure limit.”
Mammoet installed the first set of girders on the Fountain View side of the road. The whole operation was then moved to the mall side of the road where the other halves of the girders were installed, ready for connection in the middle.
