Eliminator chosen for Bahrain interchange

The construction of a three level interchange in Isa Town, Bahrain is designed to ease congestion at a junction of Sheikh Salman Highway, Al Estiqlal Highway and Baghdad Avenue, which is used by 6,000 cars per hour at peak times.

The precast concrete flyover is Bahrain's largest at 1.8 km long and branches into two smaller viaducts measuring 884 m and 905 m. It was built using the bridge launching technique, with the main structure comprising some 773 deck segments. The underpass below the flyover meanwhile is 558 m long, while it is crossed at ground level by a third road carried on a 27 m single span bridge.

Project engineer Hyder Consulting and main contractor Nass Contracting WLL selected Stirling Lloyd's Eliminator system for the waterproofing of the two secondary viaducts, underpass and at-grade bridge.

Some 45,000 m² of the sprayed membrane was applied following sandblasting and priming, and one of the reasons for selecting the system was that it could offer fast cure times despite the hot and humid conditions. Once the primer had cured, the Eliminator membrane was sprayed to a thickness of 2 mm, and this itself cured in less than 30 minutes. A Stirling Lloyd hot melt adhesive Tack Coat was then applied to form a bond with the road surfacing material.

James Hopper, Stirling Lloyd's area manager for the region commented, "We were very proud to be selected for the waterproofing works on such a strategic international project and were confident throughout that Eliminator's proven track record and our working relationship with Nass Contracting WLL would ensure that the works were carried out to the satisfaction of all parties involved and on time."