Dubai smile bridge

A new bridge has been announced in Dubai. The seventh Dubai Creek crossing will be a signature bridge featuring an inverted arch. Preliminary name is the Dubai smile crossing.


I like bridges (obviously I love them enough to start a blog about them) but I have a problem with some signature bridges. I am an engineer and I tend to object to bridges that do not make sense structurally or in which form and shape supersede structural sense. Usually these bridges end up costing several times what a conventional bridge does, and they are a nightmare to design, construct and maintain.

This bridge seems to fall in that category. It looks 'spectacular', 'pretty', 'intriguing',... but it has little structural and engineering sense. I support beautiful bridge, I defend spending a bit more money and doing a good job rather than the run of the mill column/beam bridge, but there is a point now in which clients seem to want something 'different' every time and engineers/architects have to rake their brains to come up with structures that are less than optimal for the intended use.
For more details about the bridge see here and here.