Al Maktoum Bridge: Safeguarding Dubai's Vital Connection
Al Maktoum Bridge, Dubai's oldest and most crucial crossing over the Creek, connecting Bur Dubai and Deira, undergoes comprehensive yearly maintenance in five phases to ensure safety and functionality. The maintenance includes daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual tasks, minimizing disruption to traffic flow during nighttime closures. Abdullah Al Ali, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, highlighted that 104 routine and corrective maintenance operations were conducted in 2023, totaling approximately 5,222 working hours.
The maintenance phases are meticulously planned to cover various aspects, ensuring the bridge's proper operation. Daily preventive and routine maintenance focuses on key components like the main electric generator, brake pedals, and hydraulic pipes. Weekly tasks involve cleaning and inspecting hydraulic switches, testing emergency diesel engines and backup generators, and lubricating bridge cranes. Monthly activities include inspecting air conditioning units, checking expansion joints, and examining mechanical connections. Quarterly maintenance covers tasks such as checking oil levels, inspecting fender shackles and ropes, and ensuring the integrity of metal curtain walls. Annual maintenance involves a comprehensive inspection of all civil and structural components, complemented by underwater inspections by a skilled team of divers to ensure the safety of the bridge's foundations.
The bridge, equipped with hydraulic pumps, facilitates maritime navigation in Dubai Creek by allowing ships and boats to pass underneath. This functionality simplifies operational checks, routine inspections, and monitoring of parts that require lubrication. Al Ali emphasized that Al Maktoum Bridge is among the most sophisticated movable bridges.
Over the years, major maintenance works have been conducted, including replacing the main hydraulic cylinder and pipes, comprehensive inspections of moving parts, replacing valves, sensors, and accessories, applying anti-slip paint, and evaluating underwater metal curtains. Al Ali stated that the bridge's unique design and hydraulic systems make it crucial for facilitating marine traffic.
Daily maintenance includes visual inspections of the pedestrian lane and replacement of traffic signal lamps as needed. Weekly tasks involve cleaning and inspecting hydraulic switches, testing emergency diesel engines and backup generators, and lubricating bridge cranes. Monthly activities include inspecting air conditioning units, checking expansion joints, examining mechanical connections, and lubricating brake systems. Quarterly maintenance covers tasks like checking oil levels, inspecting fender shackles and ropes, and ensuring the integrity of metal curtain walls. Annual maintenance involves a comprehensive inspection of all civil and structural components, complemented by underwater inspections to ensure the safety of the bridge's foundations. The meticulous approach to maintenance ensures Al Maktoum Bridge remains a safe and reliable transportation link for the city.
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By- Sahiba Suri
By: Sahiba Suri
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