PROJECT SHEET

Rod el Farag Axis Bridge ,

Construction ARAB CONTRACTORS COMPANY

Consulting Engineer ACE MOHARRAM-BAKHOUM

Owner ARMED FORCES ENGINEERING AUTHORITY

Products CONCENTRATE

Project Type CABLE-STAYED BRIDGE

Cable-stayed Rod el Farag Axis Bridge is the widest in the world.

The Rod el Farag Axis Bridge, inaugurated in key challenges for the bridge designers was May 2019 by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah how to adequately protect the critical con- El Sisi, is the final element completing a criti- crete structures from the effects of air pollu- cal new 600 km (373 mile) travel corridor that tion and the moist riverine environment. links the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. A key project goal is to reduce traffic congestion in ACE Moharram-Bakhoum, consulting engi- central Cairo by linking eastern Cairo to the neers for the bridge project, recommended country’s northern regions without passing that Arab Contractors treat the main con- through the center of the capital city. crete towers with Xypex Concentrate in order Rod el Farag Axis Bridge location north of to provide integral, lifetime protection from central Cairo provides a bypass corridor that The new bridge—also known as the Tahya natural and manmade elements. allows traffic to flow from Red Sea in the east to Masr Bridge (‘Long Live Egypt Bridge’)—was the Mediterranean in the north without passing built in just four years by a consortium of Xypex Concentrate consists of Portland ce- through . Egyptian firms led by the Arab Contractors ment, finely graded sand and active proprie- Company under the supervision of the Armed tary chemicals. Concentrate was applied by Forces Engineering Authority. The 540 m brush as a cementitous slurry to 1,000 square (1,772 ft) bridge features six traffic lanes in meters of pre-saturated concrete surface on each direction and, at 67.36 m (220 ft 9.6 in) the six bridge towers. wide, it has been deemed the widest cable- stayed bridge in world by Guinness World The active chemicals within Xypex Concen- Records. trate diffuse into the substrate and react with moisture and the constituents of hard- More than one million cubic meters of con- ened concrete to cause a catalytic reaction. crete was used to build the bridge, which This reaction generates a non-soluble crys- was used in the bridge decking, girders, and talline formation throughout the pores and six 92 m (302 ft) tall concrete towers that capillary tracts of the concrete that perma- support 160 steel support cables. One of the nently seals the concrete and prevents the

Xypex Chemical Corporation 13731 Mayfield Place, Richmond, BC, Canada V6V 2G9 Tel: 604.273.5265 [email protected] www.xypex.com PROJECT SHEET

Several custom-made crane barges were built Six lanes in each direction. The Rod el Farag Axis Bridge spans the between the Shobra just for the Rod el Farag Axis Bridge construction region of Cairo to Warriq Island. Many ramps and overpasses feed into and out of the 12 lanes project. Six 92 m tall towers support 160 cables. that flow across the new Rod el Farag Axis Bridge. The concrete towers were protected with Xypex Concentrate.

penetration of water and other liquids from “We have worked with the ACE consulting any direction, even under high hydrostatic engineers on this and other projects in the pressure. past,” Saad notes. “The consultants have had excellent experiences with Xypex on sev- Xypex Concentrate not only permanently seals eral important projects. They recognize that the concrete and can heal hairline cracks up there are other alternatives—perhaps even to 0.4 mm, it also provides chemical resis- less expensive than Xypex—but only Xypex tance properties that mitigate the attack of delivers true crystalline waterproofing tech- chlorides, sulfates and the effects of carbon- nology that has been proven in high profile ation and alkali-aggregate reaction. projects around the world for more than Glass panels on right side of walkway provide 40 years.” view down to Nile. The 1,000 kilos of Xypex Concentrate required for the Rod el Farag Axis Bridge project were It took the Arab Contractors crew just 24 provided by the Xypex distributor for Egypt, hours to treat the six main columns of the Beton Alexco, of Alexandria, Egypt. “Xypex Rod el Farag Axis Bridge with Xypex Concen- Concentrate was applied at a rate of one part trate. The huge towers support 160 separate water to 2.5 parts Concentrate powder,” ex- steel cables, requiring 1,500 km (870 miles) plains Xypex representative Amr Saad, when of steel wire. The towers are built on more reached at his office in Alexandria. than 6,000 pilings.

Saad’s company has provided Xypex prod- “The Xypex Concentrate will provide protec- ucts—including Xypex Admix, Concentrate, tion for this historic bridge for the lifetime of Megamix and Patch’n Plug—for many high the structure without any further mainte- Four years in the making, the Rod el Farag Axis profile projects in Egypt, including restora- nance or renewal,” says Amr Saad. “Our Bridge required 4,000 engineers, technicians and workers to complete. tion of the Cairo Metro Line; waterproofing market here in Egypt is gradually growing to of the Ramses 2 monument; repairs to the understand the difference that Xypex crystal- Suez Canal; and waterproofing of the Capital lization technology provides. No other prod- Business Park. uct on the market has the proven experience and research results that we do. When cus- tomers want the best, they come to us.”

Xypex Chemical Corporation 13731 Mayfield Place, Richmond, BC, Canada V6V 2G9 Tel: 604.273.5265 [email protected] www.xypex.com