Adding Capacity on a Major Freight and Commuting Route in Dubai

Dubai’s Roads and Trans­port Au­thor­ity (RTA) commissioned CDM Smith to provide a preliminary study and design, final design and construction engineering and inspection services for the major widening of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Road (formerly Emirates Road), a major freight and commuting route located in the eastern part of Dubai's metropolitan are., The project extends from the Arabian Ranches Interchange in the north to the Dubai-Abu Dhabi border in the south.

The im­prove­ments involved the widening of the existing highway along an approximate 33-kilometer (20.5-mile) route. The widening took place on the median side of the road and com­prised the con­struc­tion of three ad­di­tional lanes in each di­rec­tion to even­tu­ally form a 12-lane divided highway with inner and outer shoul­ders, sep­a­rated by a double-faced concrete barrier. The project scope also tasked CDM Smith's team with developing the extension of the Academic City Road, which runs parallel to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road for approximately 24 kilometers (15 miles). CDM Smith's responsibilities for the project were divided into the following separate phases:

Phase 1 involved the widening of 7 kilometers of Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Road, con­struc­tion of a grade-sep­a­rated in­ter­change at the in­ter­sec­tion of Hessa Street, and the upgrade of the adjacent Al Houd Round­about. The latter involved con­struc­tion of a three-lane di­rec­tional link, serving traffic between the Port of Jebel Ali, the world's ninth busiest port and the largest man-made harbor, and the Northern Emirates. This phase was com­pleted in 2012.

Phase 2 involved widening an additional 13 kilometers of the road. This phase commenced where the previous phase ended, up to the existing Al Maktoum Airport Street Roundabout inter­sec­tion. This phase also involved the second stage of the upgrade of the Al Houd Roundabout to a full cloverleaf interchange. Work on phase 2 was completed in 2016.

Phase 3 involved the upgrading of the remaining part of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, along with the de­vel­op­ment of several grade-sep­a­rated in­ter­changes to replace existing round­abouts.

The project closed with Phase 4, which included the ex­ten­sion of the adjacent Academic City Road project, a 23-kilometer north-south route, located in the eastern part of Dubai's urban area that connects to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road. The scope of work involved supervising construction of an eight-lane divided highway, upgraded from two lanes in each direction to four. 

The Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Road project also included new street lighting along the roadways, crossing ducts for different utilities and the relocation and/or protection of existing services affected by the proposed highway scheme based on coordination and approval of the respective utility authorities.