Two continents meet over the waters of the Suez Canal. On October 9, 2001, Egypt opened the Peace Bridge near El Kantara - a structure that connects the African part of the country with the Sinai Peninsula in Asia and was presented at the time as the highest bridge built on flat terrain.
The bridge is also known as the Egyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge, and later as the Suez Canal Bridge. Although it is often called “suspension” in public publications, in engineering terms it is a cable-stayed bridge - the roadway is supported by cables connected to two tall pylons.
70 meters above water
The roadway is located about 70 meters above the water. This is the height that allows large ships to pass through the canal without interrupting traffic. The main opening is 404 meters long, and the two pylons rise 154 meters. Their shape is reminiscent of ancient Egyptian obelisks - a detail that also makes the infrastructure project a symbol of the country.
The bridge structure itself is approximately 3.9 kilometers long. Together with the approaches, the entire road section reaches about 9 kilometers and has four lanes. The Japan International Cooperation Agency indicates that the total cost of the project is 22.5 billion yen, of which 13.5 billion - about 60 percent - are provided by the Japanese government as a grant.
Link to Sinai
The project is part of a broader Egyptian plan to develop the Sinai Peninsula. Until the construction of the bridge, crossing between the two banks of the Suez Canal was mainly done by ferries or through tunnels. The new four-lane facility shortens the distance between the Egyptian mainland and Sinai and creates a permanent road connection between Africa and Asia.
The construction was carried out with the participation of Japanese and Egyptian companies. The Japanese consortium “Kajima“, “NKK“ and “Nippon Steel“ are working on the central part, while local companies are building the approaches. According to the builder “Kajima“ The bridge is designed to allow shipping to continue without restrictions.
The ceremony was attended by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and former Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. Egyptian Transport Minister Ibrahim al-Demiry described the facility as a link between the two continents and stressed that it allows large cargo ships to pass safely.
“With the opening of this bridge, life will change on both sides of the Suez Canal“, project manager Mohamed Demiri later said, quoted by the EIR. Behind the words is the main goal of the construction - not only faster movement, but also settlement, agricultural development and attracting investment to Sinai.
Sources: albayan.ae, albawaba.com, larouchepub.com