Title: New Coastal Highway Nahr El Mout Interchange

Client: CDR
Location: Nahr El Mout
Architect: Dar El Handassah
Original Value U.S.$: 8,800,000

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Details

The Works comprise the construction of an elevated highway running parallel to “Nahr El Mout” channel , and connecting the future “Metn Expressway” with the existing coastway. The works include , but are not limited to the following:

- The construction of 730m of dual carriageway on elevated bridge structure , running parallel and above “Nahr El Mout” channel.
- The construction of a new road , around 800m long, which constitutes a part of the future road (Road F).
- The construction of 700m of ramps , connecting the dual carriage with the future road (Road F).
- Upgrading the west service road , running parallel to “Nahr El Mout” channel (350m long).
- Upgrading of existing side roads , namely roads “ NM-AR1” and “NM-AR2”.

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The civil works comprise the construction of prestressed concrete overhead bridges , elevated structure with cast-in-situ slab on precast beams , reinforced concrete walls , road works , storm water drainage and street lighting.
Complementary works related to the project include traffic signs , road marking , sidewalks, utilities and utility relocation , including electric cables , telephone cables and sewerage mains.

The main problem encountered in this project , was the presence of existing utilities above practiacally all the footings of the bridge deck such as HV cables (6x66 KVA) , sewer pipes (1000mm) , potable water pipes (300mm , 200mm & 150mm) , telephone cables and medium voltage cables .
These utilities were imposible to relocate due to the congestion in the road section therefore we were obliged to support these utilities temporary and to execute excavation under it. Some excavations reached 6m depth.

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^^ omg that's next to where i live and there was NOTHING there last year!

Great, I hope it wasn't destruyed in the recent attacks!

No,don't worry,nothing happened to it :)

its great how there upgradeing the raods highways freeways etc

you know, I always dreamed there would be a bridge that looked like the Golden Gate bridge that connects Beirut all the way to Jounieh through the sea, one straight line instead of the whole curves and all, it would look sooooo great!

^^Nadini!!! i always thought about that too!

If anyone noticed, whats up with the name, Nahr Al Mout?? lol jeez wouldnt feel so safe on that bridge.

The bridge is pretty much accomplished. Most of the construction above the Beirut-Tripoli motorway is finished. But on the other side (i.e. near the sea, or close to the rear entrance of CITY MALL) works still continue.

lol because nahr el kalb is much better?

wasn't is angelic that told us y it was called nahr el mot?

i just love the name,weither it's nahr al mout or nahr al kalb :) Both r totally UNIQUE :)

^^ well who else would call area's or rivers like that? lool

maybe alot of people died in the water or somehting :s

dose anyone know how many KM is this highway is

Update--------------

Nahr El Mott Interchange Project - Bridge deck above the highway Stage 6A : Dismantling of temporary precast beams , formworks and demolition of temporary supports were successfully completed above highway.

This operation was performed during night shifts which started August 25th,2006 and ended October 6th,2006 , and according to permission from national authorities for the highway diversion (from 11h pm till 5h am).

Equipments used:
- For the dismantling of precast beams , a Forclift of 40 tons capacity was used on a rate of 5 beams per night .
Total number of beams: 35
Lenght of beams varying from 11m to 16m.
- For demolition of temporary supports, Special Equipment Pneumatic Jaws and also the Forclift of 40 tons capacity were used to remove the huge foundation of temporary supports.

Below some pictures showing these operations:


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speaking of highway...most of the coastal highway..shud be fixed..specialy the part linking beirut to dora to jounieh...i mean..u're driving on a 4 lane road then SUDDENLY its a 3 lane road..then a 2 lane road..i mean..its not much of a highway as it is a normal road realy... a highway shud be ..fast moving...non stop sortov... another thing is they make some regulations on the cars parking on the side of the highway...i hate it when i'm drinving and i suddenly have to swirve across to escape from crashing into a parked car.

^^ You're right. However this road is not a highway to start with as it was a coastal road then they did expand it in certain areas. Since it's surrounded by buildings and shops, it will not be an easy job to transform it to a standard highway. They're trying to improve it now with the construction of a bridge in the Dora area.

Some New Updates

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Now in the last pic i posted,is this the Citymall on the left of the pic???

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I am trying to figure out where exactly this is but I am having a difficult time. Where is this road leading to? It looks like it is heading straight for the sea but obviously there is a road back there. I just thought that the "coastal" highway is what is shown below this new overpass but I am probably just confused. Can someone please help?

Thanks,

^^ You are right. The highway seen under this overpass is the current motorway. As for the overpass, it is indeed heading to the sea. There will be a new motorway built. Still, we do not know how the real network will look like but there will be a new motorway. Moreover, they started demolishing buildings on the current sea-road (this overpass heads to that road) to open space for the future motorway.

Once I saw a maquette at City Mall how the roads will look like. In that maquette, there was a motorway above the sea.

^^ You are right. The highway seen under this overpass is the current motorway. As for the overpass, it is indeed heading to the sea. There will be a new motorway built. Still, we do not know how the real network will look like but there will be a new motorway. Moreover, they started demolishing buildings on the current sea-road (this overpass heads to that road) to open space for the future motorway.

Once I saw a maquette at City Mall how the roads will look like. In that maquette, there was a motorway above the sea.

WOW Interesting! Thanks for the response Naregkar! That's definitely a nice stretch of road, if only all roads in Lebanon were like that :)

Hopefully, I will be able to make a trip to Lebanon this summer and I will definitely try to make it out there and see it in person.

Have they announced when the road will be open to the public?

That's definitely a nice stretch of road, if only all roads in Lebanon were like that :)

Don't worry. Soon every major motorway will be rehabilitated.

Have they announced when the road will be open to the public?

Part of the overpass is already open for cars.

Have they announced when the road will be open to the public?

"Nahr El Mott Interchange Project" has been opened to the traffic on Monday , May 21st 2007

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those roads look really good BUT .... there is lane that ends gose no where ??? is there a reason ?

^^It's for cars to park in case of emergency and something like that.

Thanks for the great news Hassoun!

^^U welcome,,,don't u live in Beirut????

no i don't, i live in Riyad

New Updates on Nahr el mout interchnage (replacing old overpass that leads to sin el fil and connecting coastal highway to metn expressway)
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz221/karim543/Picture045.jpg
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well that's going pretty fast!

Courtesy of Me:
http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss61/budkheir/nahelmout.jpg

Taken by me last week:

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Wonder what happened to expose the reinforcing rods...

Some renders I found:

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss61/budkheir/nahr-el-mot-1.jpg

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss61/budkheir/nahr-el-mot.jpg

Courtesy of Me:

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss61/budkheir/NAHR.jpg

Courtesy of Me

http://i26.tinypic.com/2w5irtg.jpg

It's taking forever to get done with this one.

any new pictures ???
there should be some changes now.

October, 2010

On the way to Jounieh
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5204572603_50dea5093c_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126659@N02/5204572603/)
IMG_8072 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126659@N02/5204572603/) by vatse (http://www.flickr.com/people/43126659@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5164/5205169694_2df6901e36_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126659@N02/5205169694/)
IMG_8073 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126659@N02/5205169694/) by vatse (http://www.flickr.com/people/43126659@N02/), on Flickr

On the way to Beirut
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5250/5205182542_24588b8212_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126659@N02/5205182542/)
IMG_8225 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126659@N02/5205182542/) by vatse (http://www.flickr.com/people/43126659@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5210/5204586165_da4e82e846_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126659@N02/5204586165/)
IMG_8226 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126659@N02/5204586165/) by vatse (http://www.flickr.com/people/43126659@N02/), on Flickr

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4133/5205182726_77ec259412_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126659@N02/5205182726/)
IMG_8227 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/43126659@N02/5205182726/) by vatse (http://www.flickr.com/people/43126659@N02/), on Flickr

thank you vatse,
when this project is going to finish.

... any idea or pix of the progress on the Damascus road interchange, Hazmieh / Baabda?

That bottleneck is horrendous, and it's irrational, and dangerous (and sometimes slightly irritating when with foreign friends and having to listen to their comments about it) that people coming from Baabda going to Beirut have to get on the "highway" heading away from Beirut, then take a U-turn (at two different spots) on the highway to get back.

Work's been going on for a while. Wondered how it was progressing. Many thanks to anyone who can fill us in.

Taken by me on 4 may 2011

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This project is completed. I'll post more pictures when I have time.

The only thing left is the landscaping and the final touches of the white bridges. Everything else is completed.

^^ Has this eased traffic at all?

Courtesy of mattacontracting.com

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^^

Wow...this came out real nice! Hopefully this will stay nice and clean for a while!

Looks awesome! I really like how they landscaped the area by adding gardens etc, and accessing City Mall is so much easier. The walking bridges are a great addition.

however traffic jam is scary :)

however traffic jam is scary :)

The jams it has created during it's construction have made me hate driving but looks beautiful none the less

I was wondering about those complaining that this bridge has been built in the middle of the highway. I use this road every day, and I haven't seen where the "middle" goes.
So I'll just clear up how it's been made for those coming from Zalka and going either to Dora and the Beirut Port, or those going to Jdeideh and to Sin-El-Fil:

- From Zalka, there are four lanes on the road, which then expand just before the interchange into seven lanes.
- The original three lanes on the left are the same three lanes on the interchange going towards Dora, then the port.
- The original fourth lane on the right is in fact the rightmost lane on the bridge leading to Jdeideh and Sin El Fil.
- The original fourth lane does not expand into four other lanes like most people think. The other three lanes are supposed to start from the Zalka road, but some stores have wrongly placed their stores (the biggest problem being the Mobilitop parking space) which make it impossible to have those extra lanes before reaching 20 m from the bridge.

Now the reason why most people say it's in the middle of the highway, is because there are two other lanes which are on the right, which are there for those going to the City Mall, or those who want to access the timed seaside road, and I think two lanes are needed there for these places, as City Mall is, after the Achrafieh ABC, the most crowded mall in Beirut, and requires a lane on the main road for those accessing it.

Finally, another complaint is that, since these two lanes are there for accessing the seaside road and the City Mall, then it should be closed at the other end, but this is impossible since there's a 2-lane U-turn bridge from the north-heading side to the south-heading side of the road which has to be there, making a 4 lane road (I would call it a service road) end up as one lane on the other side of the interchange, after City Mall, for accessing back the road towards Dora and then the port, and downtown Beirut.

So just to clear it up, I do not work with the CDR, and I do not work with Matta Contracting, I'm just a fan of bridges and I find a pleasure driving on newly built roads, so I don't like it when people all believe a bridge is in the middle of the highway just because they're not used to the existence of service roads. So the people to blame are basically the bad drivers, and not the good builders, even if a well-reputed TV Channel and a minister from the opposite political party both agree and affirm that it's in the middle of the highway and it's causing traffic jams.

(Any other thoughts on this matter?)

First welcome to the forum...

Actually, this intersection is indeed wrong, and this is not only my opinion, but also the opinion of every Architect, Civil Engineer and Urban Planner around me. (and they are not few)

The reason you're using the intersection without problems is simply stated by you; "You use this road everyday". The problem is that the 'exit' lane (leading to Sin El Fil) is not conforming to the 'normal' intersections' characteristics, so, a new driver coming from the North will certainly get confused.

The bridge leading to Sin El Fil is indeed in the middle of the road, as demonstrated in the following illustration that I've made:

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af175/_Zippo_/SSC%20Projects%20Pictures/Nahr%20El%20Mot%20intersection/Satellite_imagery_study.jpg

As you can see, the blue indicates the road leading to Beirut (Port) from the North, while the red is the bridge taking you to Sin El Fil.

The problem is that normally, the exit should be on the far side of the highway, which was almost the case if not for the City Mall. The concept of the bridge being on the far right was 'handicapped' by the need of additional lanes to serve the City Mall customers, turning the exist from potentially being on the right into the very middle of the highway.

So, the drivers coming from the North and reaching that intersection will face the following dilemma:

---
---
--- Beirut
---
---
--- Sin El Fil
---
---
--- Beirut
---

Which I believe is clearly awkward.

The solution will be by moving the 'exit' bridge leading to Sin El Fil towards the far left instead, leaving you with 2 normal options: To the right towards Beirut, and to the left towards Sin El Fil (which is logical btw, since already Sin El Fil is to the left of the highway geographically). Getting to the City Mall will naturally be by deviating from the highway to the farthest right.

I hope this cleared things up.

First welcome to the forum...

Actually, this intersection is indeed wrong, and this is not only my opinion, but also the opinion of every Architect, Civil Engineer and Urban Planner around me. (and they are not few)

The reason you're using the intersection without problems is simply stated by you; "You use this road everyday". The problem is that the 'exit' lane (leading to Sin El Fil) is not conforming to the 'normal' intersections' characteristics, so, a new driver coming from the North will certainly get confused.

The bridge leading to Sin El Fil is indeed in the middle of the road, as demonstrated in the following illustration that I've made:

http://i1005.photobucket.com/albums/af175/_Zippo_/SSC%20Projects%20Pictures/Nahr%20El%20Mot%20intersection/Satellite_imagery_study.jpg

As you can see, the blue indicates the road leading to Beirut (Port) from the North, while the red is the bridge taking you to Sin El Fil.

The problem is that normally, the exit should be on the far side of the highway, which was almost the case if not for the City Mall. The concept of the bridge being on the far right was 'handicapped' by the need of additional lanes to serve the City Mall customers, turning the exist from potentially being on the right into the very middle of the highway.

So, the drivers coming from the North and reaching that intersection will face the following dilemma:

---
---
--- Beirut
---
---
--- Sin El Fil
---
---
--- Beirut
---

Which I believe is clearly awkward.

The solution will be by moving the 'exit' bridge leading to Sin El Fil towards the far left instead, leaving you with 2 normal options: To the right towards Beirut, and to the left towards Sin El Fil (which is logical btw, since already Sin El Fil is to the left of the highway geographically). Getting to the City Mall will naturally be by deviating from the highway to the farthest right.

I hope this cleared things up.

Thanks for the briefing. Indeed you are right when it comes to the exit being in the middle as you showed on the Google Earth shot.

However, as the CDR is trying to turn this main road into a part of the Tripoli-Beirut highway, I think that their plan was to keep all the leftmost lanes on the entire highway reaching towards Beirut's center. For new drivers coming from the North, I believe the signs are quite clear as to which lanes go where.
Then I realized that there are three extra lanes which come out of nowhere (coming from the North, that would be just before the old pedestrian bridge and the Coral gas station).
I think that the final plan would be to separate the two roads completely: a wall is to be built between the three lanes part going towards the port, and the other lanes at the right including two lanes for accessing the Sin-el-Fil bridge and two lanes for accessing the City Mall and the Seaside road. For this, additional land should be bought: there's an empty land with a wall, and there's the Mobilitop parking space. If that works, then the road to the Beirut port would be separated from the other two roads by a wall, about 100 m before the bridge, creating a "service road" in which the two rightmost lanes access the bridge to Sin-El-Fil.

The choice would then be more like:

---------------------
--------------------- Beirut
---------------------
< ==============(wall)
-----------------
----------------- Sin El Fil bridge
------------------------
------------------------City Mall/Seaside

Then there is of course the dilemma about whether the City Mall/Seaside road should be closed as to make that part of the highway exclusively for those accessing the City Mall and the Seaside. But there's the u-turn bridge which serves those going towards the North to access the road back towards Beirut.

I do not have any sources stating that this is the next project, but the fact that those three lanes on the right have been drawn as they appear out of nowhere, lead to the thought that this is the next project which is most probably not Matta Contractor's work.

In the end, if it were up to me, I think all these bridges are big mess, and the perfect solution would have been a double-decker road (like the Burj Hammoud-Achrafieh road), with a two by two lane transit bridge which goes directly from Beirut to Jounieh, with only one exit per town, and the lower level road of one to two lanes for accessing stores, car retailers, restaurants, and all sorts of buildings built on the road. That of course, has its economic side-effects, as well as the time and traffic jams it would cause during construction, but it would pretty much solve all traffic problems in the area, and help us not keep building those mini-interchanges and overpasses every hundred meters.