Dubai-based Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Middle East undertook the prestigious contract to fabricate all the structural steelwork for the marine bridge of the Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Causeway which links Hidd with Mina Sulman.

The steelwork was preassembled at its facility in the Jebel Ali Free Zone prior to being shipped piece by piece and erected in Bahrain. The navigation span together with the temporary support steelwork weighs in excess of 3,500 tonnes and is 121 m long, 54 m wide with an arch height of 26 m.

'The steel fabrication work of the bridge that we have done is about one third of the total BD14.5 million ($38.5 million) project cost,' said managing director Michael Mack of Cleveland Bridge.

Cleveland Bridge & Engineering operates a modern and well-equipped steel fabrication facility ideally located to undertake projects in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. The company designs, fabricates and erects structural steelwork for industrial, oil, gas and petrochemical complexes, power stations, desalination plants, commercial buildings, aircraft hangars, fired heaters and cranes.

The company was established in 1977 and claims to be the largest fabricator in the lower Gulf region.

The Government of Dubai has a 51 per cent shareholding in Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Middle East, the balance being owned by the Cleveland Group of Companies of the UK.

Meanwhile, the UK-based Cleveland Bridge Company recently celebrated 125 years of its engineering excellence. The anniversary was marked by the launch of a specially commissioned book entitled 'Cleveland Bridge - 125 years of history'. The event, attended by Princess Anne, was held at the Institution of Civil Engineers, Westminster, London on December 11.

Recently named as one of the UK's top 100 contractors in a leading construction industry publication, Cleveland Bridge currently has well in excess of £200 million ($322.2 million) worth of work in hand.