The 6th October Bridge is an elevated highway in central Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

, Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

. The 20.5 kilometres (12.7 mi) bridge and causeway crosses the Nile River twice from the west bank suburbs, east through Gezira Island

Gezira Island

Gezira Island is located in the Nile River, in central Cairo, Egypt. The southern portion of the island contains the Gezira District, and the northern third contains the affluent Zamalek District....

 to Downtown Cairo

Downtown Cairo

Downtown Cairo, , has been the urban center of Cairo, Egypt since the late 19th century, when the district was designed and built.-History:The area, designed by prestigious French architects was commissioned by Khedive Ismail...

, and on to connect the city to the Cairo International Airport

Cairo International Airport

Cairo International Airport is the busiest airport in Egypt and the primary hub for Star Alliance member EgyptAir. The airport is located to the north-east of the city around from the business area of the city.The airport is administered by the Egyptian Holding Co...

 to the east.

Its name commemorates the date of 'The Crossing'

Operation Badr

Operation Badr may refer to:* Operation Badr , the highly successful Egyptian crossing of the Bar-Lev Line in the Yom Kippur War* Operation Badr , an unsuccessful Iranian operation in the Iran-Iraq War...

 which commenced the outbreak day of the October War

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...

 in 1973.

History

The bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

 and causeway

Causeway

In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...

 were completed in 1996, with construction taking nearly 30 years. It began in 1969 with the modest, 130 metres (426.5 ft)-long Phase 1, which only spanned the smaller west branch of the Nile from Gezira to Agouza

Agouza

Agouza is a small district of Giza, on the shore of the Nile river. It is on the west bank of the Nile, lies between 6th October Bridge and 15th May Bridge, north of Dokki and south of Mohandesin districts. Although it lies very near to Mohandesin, but it is less affluent than it.It embraces the...

 (built from May 1969 to August 1972). Phase 9 completed the 20.5 kilometres (12.7 mi)-long final length in 1996. The '6th October Bridge and Flyover' runs from the Agricultural Museum in Dokki

Dokki

El Dokki is a district of greater Giza, Egypt. Dokki is situated on the Western bank of the Nile, directly across from Downtown Cairo.Many Cairene landmarks are located in Dokki, the German school and the embassies of many countries including Russia, Somalia, France, Chad, the Czech Republic and...

 east to the Autostrade in Nasr City

Nasr City

Nasr City is a district of Cairo, Egypt. It is located to the east of the Cairo Governorate and consists mostly of condominiums. It was established in the 1960s as an extension to neighboring suburb of Heliopolis. The establishment of the district was part of the Egyptian Government's plan to...

.

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

Public use

The 6 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.

2011 Egyptian protests

During the 2011 Egyptian protests, the bridge has been a major route to the Tahrir Square democracy demonstrations, and also itself been the scene of violent confrontations between pro-Mubarak protesters and anti-Mubarak protesters.

External links

• Al-Ahram Weekly | "The final bridge" - history
• Structurae
  Structurae
  Structurae is an online database containing works of structural and civil engineering of all kinds such as bridges, high-rise buildings, towers, dams, etc. Additionally, the database contains information on companies and persons involved in the design or construction of the structures...
  
  [en]: 6th of October Bridge (1996)
• ACE Consulting Engineers Moharram.Bakhoum - bridge designers