Building dreams

This week, the sun-disk edifice housing the Bibliotheca Alexandrina was internationally celebrated as an outstanding feat of engineering. Fatemah Farag attended

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The library's sun-disk shaped roof was one of many areas where highly innovative engineering solutions had to be found

"An exciting, modern landmark with a unique foundation system and innovative structure form," reads the new plaque next to the main entrance of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The Outstanding Structure Award for 2003 was unveiled this week at the library and awarded to the Bibliotheca by the International Association of Bridge and Structure Engineering (IABSE), the premier international association for all types of structures and bridges based in Zurich, Switzerland with members spanning some 100 countries.

IABSE representative Loring Wyllie Jr explained that "every year and through a rigorous process, projects from across the world are considered for the award which was granted to two projects this year: the Bibliotheca and a bridge in Africa."

Wyllie Jr was a member of the American Engineering Society committee that granted the Bibliotheca one of its first international prizes two years ago and was instrumental in nominating the structure for the IABSE award. And yet this was his first visit to Alexandria to see the building with his own eyes and he told Al-Ahram Weekly that it "looks even better than the photos".

The IABSE award was presented to Hamza Associates, the local consultants for the project, last August in Antwerp. More specifically it was the engineers Mamdouh Hamza, Ahmed Rashed and Mashhour Ghoneim who received the award. In fact, the IABSE award is the ninth international award to be received by Hamza Associates recognising their work in connection to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

"I still remember the first time we invited Hamza out to the site 12 years ago. We stood on what was a sand plot for three hours in the cold winter assessing the situation," recounted engineer Hisham Abdel-Mohsen, one of the team members, who went on to outline some of the major challenges faced by the team of engineers who made the library a reality.

"We faced difficult subsoil conditions [which were] specifically problematic in the building of this non-classical, non-symmetrical structure. Also the library is very close to the sea and required a foundation 19 metres deep. The neighbouring buildings are built on shallow foundations which created a risky situation. The roof required a 20,000 square metre surface. And then there was the question of how to fix the stone façade to the surface of the building and give the impression of its being one piece of stone."

The team of Egyptian engineers who took on the challenge were motivated by their will to succeed. "I remember my questioning our ability to build such a big and complex structure," admitted engineer Ibrahim Mahlab of Arab Contractors, the company responsible laying the foundations of the library. "Today I feel very proud."

And while the expertise of JV Balfour Beatty was notable, Hamza is keen to highlight the Egyptian component of the structure. Not least significant of the engineering achievements was the construction of a foundation capable of withstanding a highly saline and aggressive environment.

During his presentation Hamza showed photos of young Egyptian workers in what he described as a "small workshop on the outskirts of Alexandria" putting together the roof of the library using aircraft technology. A stone quarry was opened in Aswan to provide the library with its engraved façade. "We were told that the engraving of the stone façade must be done by computer and the machine was bought by our foreign partners. However, after our calculations we discovered it would take 13 years before the façade would be ready. Instead we brought 25 young men from the same village from which the stone was quarried and they hand-engraved the 6,000 square metre façade to specification," recounted Hamza, jokingly noting that the $750,000 machine is now up for sale.

The use of Egyptian labour and expertise is estimated to have brought the costs of the building down by some 15 per cent and all those who worked on the building highlight that not one degree of quality was sacrificed in the process. "Forty per cent of time went into quality control," added Hamza.

JV Balfour Beatty's Jack Thompson noted during the award ceremony: "The contract set the terms for a clear knowledge, quality and technical transfer to Egypt." And hence, looking around the library, Hamza enthusiastically points out that "the roof is by Amriyah, the partitions Mobica" and so forth. After all, he notes, "What good is the building if it is an imported structure?"