The Helix Bridge, officially The Helix, and previously known as the Double Helix Bridge, is a pedestrian

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

linking

Marina Centre Marina Central or Marina Centre ( Chinese: 滨海中心; ) is a zone of reclaimed land within the Downtown Core in the southern part of Singapore. Together with the Marina South Marina South is a planning area located within the Central Area ...

with

Marina South Marina South is a planning area located within the Central Area of the Central Region of Singapore. It is largely home to Gardens by the Bay as well as the Marina Barrage. The name has also been used to refer to the larger peninsula the plannin ...

in the Marina Bay area in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. It was officially opened on 24 April 2010; however, only half was opened due to ongoing construction at the

Marina Bay Sands Marina Bay Sands is a integrated resort fronting Marina Bay, Singapore, Marina Bay in Singapore and a landmark of the city. At its opening in 2010, it was deemed the world's most expensive standalone casino property at Singapore dollar, S$8&nbs ...

. The bridge was fully opened on 18 July.

Architecture

The design consortium is an international team comprising

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n architects the Cox Architecture and engineers Arup, and Singapore based Architects 61. Canopies (made of fritted-glass and perforated steel mesh) are incorporated along parts of the inner spiral to provide shade for pedestrians. The bridge has four viewing platforms sited at strategic locations which provide views of the Singapore skyline and events taking place within Marina Bay. At night, the bridge will be illuminated by a series of lights that highlight the double-helix structure, thereby creating a special visual experience for the visitors. Pairs of coloured letters c and g, as well as a and t on the bridge which are lit up at night in red and green represent

cytosine Cytosine () (symbol C or Cyt) is one of the four nucleotide bases found in DNA and RNA, along with adenine, guanine, and thymine ( uracil in RNA). It is a pyrimidine derivative, with a heterocyclic aromatic ring and two substituents attac ...

guanine Guanine () (symbol G or Gua) is one of the four main nucleotide bases found in the nucleic acids DNA and RNA, the others being adenine, cytosine, and thymine ( uracil in RNA). In DNA, guanine is paired with cytosine. The guanine nucleoside ...

adenine Adenine (, ) (nucleoside#List of nucleosides and corresponding nucleobases, symbol A or Ade) is a purine nucleotide base that is found in DNA, RNA, and Adenosine triphosphate, ATP. Usually a white crystalline subtance. The shape of adenine is ...

and

thymine Thymine () (symbol T or Thy) is one of the four nucleotide bases in the nucleic acid of DNA that are represented by the letters G–C–A–T. The others are adenine, guanine, and cytosine. Thymine is also known as 5-methyluracil, a pyrimidine ...

, the four bases of

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

. The intentional left handed DNA-like design, which is the opposite of normal DNA on earth, earned it a place in The Left Handed DNA Hall of Fame in 2010. The

Land Transport Authority The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of Transport (Singapore), Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. History Incorporation The Land Transport Au ...

claimed it is a world first in architectural and engineering bridge design. It won the 'World's Best Transport Building' award at the World Architecture Festival Awards in the same year. It has also been recognised by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) at the BCA Design and Engineering Safety Excellence Awards in 2011.

Construction

The Helix is fabricated from approximately 650 tonnes of Duplex Stainless Steel and 1000 tonnes of carbon steel used in the temporary structure and also helping the bridge to get the helix shape. The construction began in 2007. It was officially opened on 24 April 2010 but partially accessible. The entire bridge was opened on 18 July 2010 to complete the entire walkway around Marina Bay.

Fabrication

Before any work began on the bridge, a mock-up was made from carbon steel to try to preempt any construction difficulties. Fabrication of the elements worked from north to south; components were assembled into segments that could manage the Singapore roads. A trial assembly was done before delivery to site to identify any prefabrication errors.The Institution of Engineers, Singapore. (August 2010). The Helx. The Singapore Engineer, pp. 8 - 17.

Quality control

The duplex stainless steel used is susceptible to contamination by carbon or zinc dust. So a dedicated workshop was specially set up to keep members for the Helix separate from other carbon and nitrogen steels.

Temporary works

A temporary truss bridge was built to support the bridge and provide access. The key issue was in launching the trusses over the central 50m wide navigation channel that had to be kept clear during construction to give safe access to other users of the bay. The truss was launched in segments in a synchronised lift with two mobile crane units. This was done at night to minimise disturbance caused by closing the channel.

Permanent works

A mobile gantry crane was positioned on the temporary bridge to lift elements into place. Erection started from the North Abutment starting with the horizontal prefabricated segments (av. 11m long). Then the horizontal deck components were bolted on, and then cross members, hoop members, tension rods, and other loose members were installed working upwards from deck level. The helices and their struts were installed. The individual elements of the helices being welded on the entire span had been erected. These crucial connections were very closely supervised and controlled to ensure the properties of the duplex steel were maintained. Finally a passivation process removed any surface iron compounds which are a potential source of corrosion.

In popular culture

The bridge is featured in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction dystopia media franchise that began with the Westworld (film), 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild West, Wild-West-th ...

'', as part of its third season. It is featured in ''

Mario Kart Tour is a 2019 kart racing mobile game developed and published by Nintendo for Android and iOS. It is the ninth game in the Mario Kart series. The game features biweekly, downloadable themed tours with different cups, each of which has three course ...

'' and ''

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is a 2014 kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. It retains the gameplay of previous ''Mario Kart'' games, with players controlling a ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' character in races around tracks. Tracks are theme ...

'' as part of the Singapore Speedway course.

References

External links

360° Interactive VR image of the Helix Bridge

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helix Bridge Bridges in Singapore Tourist attractions in Singapore Downtown Core (Singapore) Marina Bay, Singapore 2010 establishments in Singapore Philip Cox buildings Bridges completed in 2010 Helices