6th of October Bridge كوبري 6 أكتوبر | |
|---|---|
 A view of a small section of the 6th October Bridge nearRamses station andEgyptian Museum, crossingNile River toGezira Island withCairo Tower in background. | |
| Coordinates | 30°02′57″N31°13′45″E / 30.0492°N 31.2292°E /30.0492; 31.2292 |
| Locale | Cairo,Egypt |
| Official name | كوبري السادس من أكتوبر |
| Other name | October Bridge |
| Owner | Egyptian state |
| Maintained by | General Authority For Roads, Bridges & Land Transport |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Concrete Girder Bridge |
| Total length | 20.5 km (12.7 mi) |
| History | |
| Designer | ACE Moharram Bakhoum |
| Engineering design by | ACE Moharram Bakhoum Fritsch- Chiari & Partner ZT GmbH |
| Constructed by | Arab Contractors |
| Construction start | 1969 |
| Construction end | 1996 |
| Location | |
 Interactive map of 6th of October Bridge | |
| References | |
| [1][2] | |
The6th of October Bridge (Arabic:كوبري 6 أكتوبرKubri 6 [Sadis]Uktubar) is an elevated highway inCairo, the capital city ofEgypt. The 20.5-kilometre (12.7 mi) bridge and causeway crosses theNile twice from the western bank suburbs, east throughGezira Island toDowntown Cairo, and on to connect the city to other highways that lead to theCairo International Airport to the east.
Its name commemorates the date ofOperation Badr in 1973, when the Egyptian military crossed theSuez Canal and attacked the Israeli military'sBar Lev Line, sparking theYom Kippur War.
Thebridge andcauseway were completed in 1996, with construction taking nearly 30 years. It began in 1969 with the modest, 130 metres (430 ft)-long Phase 1, which only spanned the smaller west branch of the Nile fromGezira toAgouza (built from May 1969 to August 1972). Phase 9 completed the 21.193 kilometres (13.169 mi)-long final length in 2005. The '6th October Bridge and Flyover' runs from the Agricultural Museum inDokki east to the Autostrade inNasr City.
The building of the 6th October Bridge and causeway has been declared a national infrastructure project.
In April 2021,PresidentAbdel Fattah el-Sisi gave the order to expand and upgrade the bridge, as well as the roads underneath it.[3]
The 6th of October starts at anintersection 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 toa railway andmetro system, which, near Ghamra metro station, the bridge is supported withsuspension bridge-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 toNew Cairo.
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.[4] 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.
During theEgyptian Revolution of 2011, the bridge had been a major route to theTahrir Square democracy demonstrations, and also itself been the scene of violent confrontations between pro-Mubarak protesters and anti-Mubarak protesters.[5]
