Ecca collection

These innovative structures will, it says, guarantee the safe, easy and convenient pedestrians’ access to a variety of destinations including schools, shopping centres and public transport interchanges. According to the PWA, safety, especially along high-speed traffic highways like Salwa Road, is one of its chief concerns behind the scheme. 

Welcomed by residents of this all-to-often stiflingly hot city, a prototype air-conditioned bridge now spanning the East Industrial Area road, at the entrance to a large industrial zone.

Designed and built by Greek company Kamaridis Steel LLC, this bridge features a highly reflective shell made from more than 2,000 square metres of prepainted aluminium Etalbond FR composite panels from Elval Colour. Supplied in lengths of up to 9.9m, these were cut, curved and routed to formations and shapes “that are beyond expectations when compared with traditional construction materials such as steel”, says a spokesperson for Kamaradis Steel.

Elval EZ False Ceiling, a lightweight product incorporating Elval Colour pre-painted aluminium tiles laid into a modular exposed ceiling grid has been used on interior surfaces. 

Intentionally tubular and futuristic in appearance, with waved windows and exposed A4 stainless steel bolts, the 80m-long, 4m-wide bridge features a fully anodised, structural aluminium alloy middle structural support, chosen, says Kamaradis Steel, for its high corrosion resistance and suitability for such harsh environments. 

As it is made almost entirely of aluminium, the weight of the bridge in only around a third of that of a conventional, comparable steel structure. From a sustainability point of view, aluminium alloy structures provide excellent credibility when looked at in the long-term, says Kamaradis Steel: “Aluminium structural material has a very long life cycle, and due to this durability, the maintenance costs are very low over the lifetime of the structure.” 

Etalbond has been certified to meet local regulations and requirements, including a certificate from Qatar Civil Defense as well as the approval from Ashghal (PWA) which is the Public works authority of Qatar. Ashghal  is responsible for the planning, design, procurement, construction, delivery, and asset management of all infrastructure projects and public buildings in Qatar.

And thanks to their lightweight mineral core, the panels, which feature a PVDF resin finish in silver, meet the strict requirements of international fire regulations.