Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) has awarded the construction contract for the 10-lane Saadiyat Bridge highway to a joint venture between German project construction powerhouse ED Zublin and UAE contracting firm Saif Bin Darwish.

The Dh671 million ($183.8 million) contract was won by the joint venture in the face of stiff competition against other international shortlisted bids from the Korean/UAE joint venture Samsung and Al Jaber and the Japanese/Turkish joint venture Taisei/Nurol.
“The Zublin/Bin Darwish bid was selected for its competitiveness in both commercial and technical terms,” said Mubarak Al Muhairi, managing director, TDIC.
Construction of the bridge, which will link Abu Dhabi with Saadiyat Island is expected to be complete in 2009.
The bridge has been designed as a concrete box girder carrying five lanes of traffic in each direction as well as two future passenger rail system tracks and will be built using segmental technology.
The tender award covers civil, electrical and mechanical works for a 2 km, at-grade, 10-lane freeway connecting the UAE capital's Mina Zayed area with Saadiyat Island and the main 1.5-km-long bridge and two, 200 m off ramps on the island.
“When complete, access provided by this main bridge will result in a five-minute drive from Abu Dhabi city to Saadiyat Island,” explained Lee Tabler, CEO, TDIC.
Saadiyat Bridge will be the main gateway to Saadiyat Island.