Jeddah’s Briman Bridge to ease travel to holy cities

A portion of an important bridge at intersection on Jeddah’s vital Harmain road leading to King Abdulaziz International Airport opened on Thursday.
Commonly known as Briman Bridge in East Jeddah, it is a vital conduit for transport systems between Jeddah’s Airport and holy city of Makkah.
It also plays an important role in connecting between two holy cities of Makkah and Madinah besides Jeddah. The new bridge will also serve as the main conduit for newly constructed additional highway of 85 kilometers section that links the airport and holy city of Makkah through Huda . It is expected to reduce travel time by half.
Unlike other bridges inside Jeddah and built by Jeddah Municipality, the Briman Bridge was constructed by the Ministry of Transport as part of Harmain Train project.
The old bridge, which was built 30 years ago, was demolished last June for the train line in which trains pass through the airport. The new bridge was scheduled to completed within seven months. However, technical issues related to pipelines of Aramco retail depot in adjacent area and additional modification to the storm water facility led to delays.
The bridge measures 114 meters long and 20 meters wide. The lane that comes from the airport to the Makkah Highway was opened on Thursday. An hour later the lane in opposite direction from Makkah highway to the airport opened.
However, the vertical part that connects east to west and vice versa remains under construction and closed as work continues.
The train route that links King Abdulaziz International Airport with two holy cities will pass through to Jeddah’s main central station at Sulaimania, and then to Makkah through this route of Harmain Highway. On Harmain Highway, seven bridges are scheduled for construction. They include structures on Tahlia Street and King Abdullah Road where preparations are being made for the demolition of existing structures. Several properties were already demolished in this route to allow the train line to pass.
Real estate prices surged in the adjacent Briman Bridge area and other locations along the Harmain Road due to the rapid development and improvement of the transport system via Hada Road, as well as the coming Haramain high speed train.
Apart of facilitating train movement, newly constructed bridges will ease traffic on Harmain Highway.