---
title: "With the inauguration of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah causeway, SYSTRA signs a reference maritime bridge in Kuwait"
url: "https://www.systra.com/en/news/with-the-inauguration-of-the-sheikh-jaber-al-ahmad-al-sabah-causeway-systra-signs-a-reference-maritime-bridge-in-kuwait/"
type: post
date_published: 2019-05-01
date_modified: 2020-10-01
schema:
  @type: Article
language: en-US
word_count: 573
reading_time: 3 min
canonical: "https://www.systra.com/en/news/with-the-inauguration-of-the-sheikh-jaber-al-ahmad-al-sabah-causeway-systra-signs-a-reference-maritime-bridge-in-kuwait/"
featured_image: "https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pont_subiyah.jpg"
---

# With the inauguration of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah causeway, SYSTRA signs a reference maritime bridge in Kuwait

![With the inauguration of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah causeway, SYSTRA signs a reference maritime bridge in Kuwait](https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/pont_subiyah.jpg)

This infrastructure, built on behalf of the Public Authority for Roads and
Transportation (PART), the project owner, is one of the longest maritime
causeways in the world and has even set a record: 34.1km of bridge over the sea.
This new crossing brings Kuwait City closer to the future city of ‘Madinat
Al-Hareer’ in the north, a future zone of economic activity, with the aim of
creating a central hub in the Gulf by 2030. In designing this unique
infrastructure, SYSTRA has confirmed its position as an engineering world leader
in the field of bridges.

## A remarkable infrastructure

This bridge links the capital Kuwait City in the south of the bay of Kuwait to
the Subiyah area in the north of the Emirate, by 36.1km of technical feats (Main
Link). By adding the 12.4km section (Doha Link) enabling the Doha area to
connect in the west, the structure is one of the longest maritime causeways in
the world with a total length of 48.5km.

For five years SYSTRA worked for the consortium formed by the South Korean firm
Hyundai E&C and the Kuwaiti company CGCC, and was entrusted with the
responsibility for the complete design of the main link.

The Main Link comprises a maritime bridge 26.4km long including a cable-stayed
bridge with a total length of 340m and a main span of 177m, an onshore bridge of
around 4.5km ensuring connection with the Ghazali interchange, two artificial
islands, two reclamations and two marinas designed by our sub-contractor Artelia
Gulf, 30 buildings with a total surface area of 16,000m² for management and
maintenance of the project’s infrastructure, among which a panoramic tower for
visitors, as well as all electrical and mechanical systems. SYSTRA also carried
out the assignment of independent checking engineering for the Doha Link for the
South Korean firm GS E&C in charge of the construction.

## 󠀁**Innovation at the heart of SYSTRA’s project**󠁿

The accumulation of non-standard elements and technical challenges to overcome
in a desert and marine environment pushed SYSTRA to implement leading edge
technical and economic solutions never used before on such a scale.

“The bold option of proposing monopiles to support the structure, even in an
unfavourable geological context, enabled stability, while significantly reducing
seismic effects, the need for natural resources and the risk of concrete
dispersion in the sea,” explains Mohamed Akraa, project director. The
opportunity for SYSTRA to propose a world first: the precast in a dedicated
casting yard of the entire prestressed 40 and 60m spans of 950 to 1,600 tons
respectively using a pre-tension system was one of the keys to the project’s
success. These construction methods enabled the impacts on marine ecosystems as
well as the construction risks associated with offshore works to be
significantly reduced.

## A successful maritime causeway thanks to an international SYSTRA team

Between 2013 and 2016, 14,650 drawings were produced by the 250 SYSTRA experts
involved in the project. The successful coordination of multicultural teams in
France, India, Kuwait, Dubai and Korea was also crucial to the project’s
success. “With management of the project in Paris, and with the support of the
coordination team in Kuwait, we combined know-how, united cultural differences
and managed time zone issues. These teams, interconnected perfectly as one,
allowed us to successfully carry out the design within the specified
timeframes,” added Mohamed Akraa.

![capture-subiyah-en](https://www.systra.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/capture-subiyah-en.jpg)

Copyrights: Hyundai/Tylin, HDEC