Rapid growth would be a gross understatement for the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. At the rate the city has developed, traffic congestion has quickly become a major problem. In order to help relieve some of this congestion the U.A.E.’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) decided to rebuild a bigger and better Al Garhoud Bridge. The new Al Garhoud Bridge is 520m long, 16m above the water and holds 14 lanes of traffic for a capacity of 16,000 vehicles every hour. The RTA wanted the new bridge to be more than just traffic relief However.

The vision was to have the bridge mimic sand dunes and water, the two dominating elements of Dubai. To realize this vision the bridge piers are designed to mimic sand dunes and the deck is constructed with a wave shaped underside. At night this vision truly comes to life with 1142 STR9^® LED Luminaires supplied by GVA Lighting.

848 Blue STR9^® Luminaires light the wave shaped portion of the Bridge deck, creating the water illusion and 294 White STR9^® Luminaires highlight the windswept sand dune shape of the Piers. The result is a brilliant visual representation of the unique world that is Dubai.