The 6th of October Bridge ( ) is an elevated highway in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, the capital city of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. The bridge and causeway crosses the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

twice from the western bank suburbs, east through

Gezira Island Gezira is an island in the Nile, in central Cairo, Egypt. The southern portion of the island contains the Gezira district, and the northern third contains the Zamalek district. Gezira is west of downtown Cairo and Tahrir Square, connected acr ...

Downtown Cairo Downtown Cairo ( "middle of town") is the colloquial name given to the 19th-century western expansion of Egypt's capital Cairo, between the historic medieval Cairo, and the Nile, which became the commercial center of the city during the 20th c ...

, and on to connect the city to other highways that lead to the

Cairo International Airport Cairo International Airport (; ''Maṭār El Qāhira El Dawli'') is the principal international airport of Cairo and the largest and busiest airport in Egypt. It serves as the primary hub for Egyptair and Nile Air as well as several other a ...

to the east. Its name commemorates the date of Operation Badr in 1973, when the Egyptian military crossed the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

and attacked the Israeli military's Bar Lev Line, sparking the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was fought from 6 to 25 October 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states led by Egypt and S ...

History

The

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 ...

and

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

were completed in 1996, with construction taking nearly 30 years. It began in 1969 with the modest, -long Phase 1, which only spanned the smaller west branch of the Nile from Gezira to Agouza (built from May 1969 to August 1972). Phase 9 completed the -long final length in 2005. The '6th October Bridge and Flyover' runs from the Agricultural Museum in

Dokki Dokki ( , is one of nine districts that make up Giza city, which is part of Greater Cairo, in Egypt. Dokki is situated on the western bank of the Nile, directly across from Downtown Cairo. It is a vital residential and commercial district wi ...

east to the Autostrade in

Nasr City Nasr City ( ) forms two of the nine districts of the Eastern Area of Cairo, Egypt. It is administratively divided into Nasr City West/One ''(Gharb Madinet Nasr/awwal),'' and Nasr City East/Two (''Sharq Madinet Nasr/thani''). In 2021, Nasr C ...

. The building of the 6th October Bridge and causeway has been declared a national infrastructure project. In April 2021,

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...

gave the order to expand and upgrade the bridge, as well as the roads underneath it.

Route

The 6th of October starts at an

intersection In mathematics, the intersection of two or more objects is another object consisting of everything that is contained in all of the objects simultaneously. For example, in Euclidean geometry, when two lines in a plane are not parallel, their ...

with the Ministry of Agriculture Street which then travel east, meeting the western Corniche before crossing the Nile. It then passes through El Gezira island. After crossing the Nile the second time comes a large intersection at Abdel Minaam Riyadh Square, connecting the eastern Corniche and Ramses Street, after which will it goes to Ramses Square in a straight path. Then, the bridge continues paralleling Ramses Street as well as train tracks that belong to a railway and

metro system Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separated rapid transit line below ground surface through a tu ...

, which, near Ghamra metro station, the bridge is supported with

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

-like towers. It later continue until it reaches El Demerdash metro station which at this point, goes south. It then intersects with Salah Salem road, and finally merged with the Emtedad Ramses causeway near El Nasr Autostrade that directs to

New Cairo New Cairo ( ') is a satellite city within the Cairo governorate of Egypt, and the metropolitan area of Greater Cairo. Administratively, it is officially part of the Eastern Area of Cairo city, but like all new settlements in Egypt, it is di ...

Public use

The 6th October Bridge has been called the 'spinal cord' of Cairo, with approximately half a million Cairene people using it on a daily basis. Due to its role as Cairo's central East–West automobile and truck route, the bridge and causeway is nearly always crowded with traffic, with the trip from one end to another taking up to 45 minutes.

Egyptian Revolution of 2011

During the

Egyptian Revolution of 2011 The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January Revolution (;), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police holiday" as a statement against ...

, the bridge had been a major route to the

Tahrir Square Tahrir Square (, ; ), also known as Martyr Square, is a public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations. The 2011 Egyptian revolution and the resignation of President of Egypt, ...

democracy demonstrations, and also itself been the scene of violent confrontations between pro- Mubarak protesters and anti-Mubarak protesters.

Gallery

File:Zad-Cairo.jpg, The 6th October Bridge, with

in the foreground, the

, and

in the background File:Cairo-Hilton-Skyline.jpg, The 6th October Bridge, ramps, and

; with Downtown Cairo and

Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum (, Egyptian Arabic: ) (also called the Cairo Museum), located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Ancient Egypt, Egyptian antiquities in the world. It hou ...

(''on left''), in view north from Ramses Hilton File:6 October Bridge and Ramses Hilton at night-Cairo.JPG, 6th October Bridge at night File:Al jazeera 2011 egypt protests.ogv,

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

video of the democracy demonstration clashes at 6th October Bridge and ramps (on 28 January 2011)

References

External links

Al-Ahram Weekly , "The final bridge" - ''history''
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071120114151/http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1999/428/special.htm , date=20 November 2007 *

Structurae Structurae is an online database containing pictures and information about structural engineering, structural and civil engineering works, and their associated engineers, architects, and builders. Overview Structurae was founded in 1998 by Nico ...

nbr>6th of October Bridge (1996)
1996 establishments in Egypt Bridges in Cairo Bridges over the Nile Downtown Cairo Gezira Island Bridges completed in 1996 Articles containing video clips