The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Egypt has done it again folks! It was announced last week that our Rod Al-Farag Bridge will be featured in the Guinness World Records as the widest suspension bridge. Not to divert off topic, but did you know that, according to the Official Guinness Records, there are more than 90 entries for Egypt alone?! The fact that some our entries include some hilarious achievements, such as largest underpants and most air flights by a pet, as well as equally impressive achievements, such as longest female open saltwater scuba dive and largest food court, genuinely proves the diverse range that Egypt has provided over the years.

Let’s talk a bit more about the Rod Al-Farag Bridge in case anyone is not familiar with this modern structure. Firstly, the project started in 2015 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of the year, according to Al-Ahram Weekly, and is estimated to cost approximately 8 billion Egyptian pounds. In terms of design, the bridge comprises six lanes of roads in each direction along with two lanes for buses and an electric metro train line. The president inspected the progress in the final phase of the axis in April. 

Our major thanks for the execution of this soon-to-be iconic landmark are directed to the armed forces that cooperated with several civil construction companies, including the Arab Contractors. The approximately 65-metre-wide bridge is being built to serve as one of the main entrances to the capital that connects north and east Cairo to west Cairo at the Cairo Alexandria Desert Road. Furthermore, the project manager, Mohamed Fawzi, told Al-Ahram Weekly, “The Rod Al-Farag Axis will help ease traffic jams and save 200,000 litres of fuel per day. Constructed in parallel to the 26 July Axis, the project has taken 300,000 tons of steel and a million cubic metres of concrete to build.”

Egypt Independent shared some numbers regarding the equipment and employees of the project, including the 4,000 engineers, technicians, and workers; a large number of equipment pieces, including 27 pile drivers; numerous pieces of heavy equipment that have a carrying capacity of up to 600 tons; two ferries specially constructed for the project, at a cost of 46 million Egyptian pounds, and others.

Once inaugurated, commuters and drivers from the capital’s eastern areas, like Nasr City and Heliopolis, can cross through to Sheikh Zayed and Alexandria Desert Road with no need to go through central Cairo, which will hopefully lift huge pressure off Downtown Cairo and October Bridge.