Ashghal opens part of North Canal Crossing Bridge for beneficial use

As part of Lusail Expressway project, the Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ has announced the partial opening of the North Canal Crossing (NCC) Bridge to the public for beneficial use on Friday 18 November 2016, after the completion of its first phase of delivery. The opened part of the bridge will reduce travel times to residential and commercial developments in Legtaifiya area and will provide easy access to Lusail City and north areas of Qatar. 

Located between the Lusail City and north of the Pearl Interchange currently under construction, the North Canal Crossing Bridge will be a 200-meter-long vital crossing. The opened part of the bridge will provide two lanes in each direction and it forms a section of the permanent road. The North Canal Crossing Bridge upgrade is due to be completed in the final quarter of 2017.

Lusail Expressway is one of the Expressway Programme’s key projects currently under construction. It is located in the north of Doha and will upgrade the existing Lusail Street from south of the Al Wahda Intersection (previously known as the Arch Roundabout) to north of the North Canal Crossing, the project is 5.3 kilometers long, with four lanes in each direction. In addition to the upgraded North and South Canal Crossings, it will deliver three major interchanges at Al Wadha, The Pearl and Onaiza, each as high as four levels, comprising a network of vehicle and Light Rail tunnels, underpasses, flyovers and junctions.

Six major tunnels at The Pearl and Onaiza Interchanges and the underpass at Al Wadha are at advanced stages of structural construction and utility works. To date, over 3,000,000 cubic meters of materials have been excavated to enable works on these sites. 38,000 meters of telecommunication, water and electricity utility network lines have been laid while 513,000 cubic meters of concrete and 55,000 cubic meters of rebar steel works have been utilised to deliver the current state of completion. These pieces world-class infrastructure have been designed to meet the future transport needs of the State of Qatar and combined, will facilitate faster, safer and seamless traffic movement of people and goods. They will serve local tourist attractions such as the Katara Cultural Village, growing residential communities such as The Pearl, as well as key commercial and diplomatic areas. Most notably, it will provide direct, free flowing connection to the rapidly developing Lusail City Development. 

It is worth noting that Ashghal is committed to ensuring the preservation of local marine ecology throughout construction of the North and South Canal Crossings and has implemented a monitoring programme which uses marine conservation techniques to regularly assess environmental conditions and seagrass health.