Kuwait connections

In addition to supplying 58 TENSA® MODULAR expansion joints for the recent construction of the Main Link of Kuwait’s new sea crossing, mageba also manufactured a further 81 expansion joints of the same type for the causeway’s Doha Link

With a length of 36 km, the Main Link of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway in Kuwait is one of the longest sea bridges in the world. The project involved the use of 58 TENSA® MODULAR expansion joints with ex-works lengths of up to 25.5 m and special low-depth designs – challenges that were successfully overcome, paving the way nicely for the contract to supply an even larger number of joints of the same type for the causeway’s Doha Link.

The 81 TENSA® MODULAR expansion joints of the Doha Link were designed with between four and eight individual movement gaps each, to accommodate longitudinal superstructure movements of between 320 mm and 640 mm. They were also designed for large transverse movements, with the support bars that traverse the superstructure’s movement gap at each location, supporting the joint’s surface beams, able to swivel significantly about a vertical axis. In order to accommodate the limited depth of block-outs in the concrete superstructure in some cases, the standard “I-beam” profile generally used for the support bars of this type of expansion joint was replaced by full rectangular profile – a measure that significantly reduced the overall depth of the entire expansion joint.

As in the case of the Main Link, transporting the joints as very long units (in this case, up to 23 m) from mageba’s factory in Shanghai to the site in Kuwait minimised the need to connect sections of joint together on site – although some expansion joints with total lengths of up to 44.4 m required to be welded in this case. This minimised the effort of welding and rubber seal insertion work on site, and maximised long-term durability by maximising the amount of work executed in a highly controlled workshop environment.

We are proud to have earned the trust of the bridge constructors with the supply of 139 modular joints in total for these two sea crossings – true to our slogan, engineering connections® in Kuwait and throughout the Middle East.

Contractor: Combined Group Contracting Co. (Main Link), GS E&C (Doha Link)
Client: Combined Group Contracting Co. (Main Link), Unison eTech (Doha Link)
Consultant: dar

TENSA-MODULAR expansion joints

 Image © GS E&C

The construction of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway’s Doha Link in Kuwait, with a length of 12.4 km, required the use of 81 TENSA® MODULAR expansion joints with a total length of over 1300 m

One of the 58 TENSA® MODULAR expansion joints also manufactured for the causeway’s Main Link, as installed

In selecting the TENSA® MODULAR expansion joint for use on the project, great value was placed by the responsible engineers in the fact that this joint type had passed fatigue testing at an unprecedented level

Loading of TENSA® MODULAR expansion joints with lengths of up to 23 m for transport from the factory in Shanghai to Kuwait for the causeway’s Doha Link

An expansion joint as loaded on a truck in Kuwait’s sea port for transport to the construction site of the causeway’s Main Link

Some of the 81 TENSA®MODULAR expansion joints as delivered to site for the Doha Link (with pre-setting frames across the top of each)

Sections through a standard I-beam support bar (at centerbeam connection), and through a rectangular support bar as specially used on this project to reduce height in some cases

A 6-gap TENSA® MODULAR joint as installed, with reinforcement bars placed around it as required in preparation for concreting