DSI Supplies Permanent GEWI ^® Anchors for Oman’s First Suspension Bridge

Recently, Oman completed the Khor Al Batha Bridge - the country’s first suspension bridge located in the coastal town of Sur. Even before its completion, the country’s only suspension bridge was considered an architectural work of art and a tourist attraction.

Because of its importance for the region’s infrastructure, the bridge was constructed as a traffic structure instead of the pedestrian bridge that had been originally planned. Thanks to the new bridge, the travelling distance between the two villages of Al Ajah and Khor Bath in Sur was reduced by 10km. In addition, the suspension bridge offers visitors an easy and fast connection to the town of Sur via the new Quiryat-Sur motorway.

The 170m long suspension bridge has a main span of 120m, and the 10m wide bridge deck accommodates two traffic lanes and two walkways.

Excavation work was carried out for the construction of the abutments. Excavations had to be deep enough to compensate for possible uplift or subsidence of the surrounding soil. DSI Langenfeld supplied a total of 64 Ø 50mm Double Corrosion Protected (DCP) GEWI ^® Anchors for the bridge abutments.

The permanent GEWI ^® Anchors were inserted into pre-drilled boreholes with permanent metal casings that remained in the soil. Afterwards, the boreholes were cement grouted. GEWI ^® Anchors in lengths of 25m were installed into primary sandstone at the eastern bank. GEWI ^® Anchors in lengths of 34.5 to 49.8m were used at the western bank, where supporting sandstone prevailed at a depth of 8.5m. Assembly and installation of the GEWI ^® Anchors was supervised by experienced DSI personnel.