Singapore: The Helix Bridge & Marina Bay Sands


The Helix Bridge and the Marina Bay Sands

This is the third day the The Helix Bridge is opened to public. The official launch party started on the 24th of April 2010, Saturday. The Helix Bridge is one magnificent structure made up of 3,000 steel members and 585 tonnes of stainless steel. The efforts of an international design consortium of Australian architects the Cox Group and engineers Arup, and Singapore-based Architects 61, has finally been realized. The design, as the name suggests, is inspired by the double-helix DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), which is none other than the genetic material of life. The double-helix comprise of two spirals, an inner and an outer. You do not get to see the ribose sugar rings G, A, T, C, on every turn, but you sure see steel mesh and glass canopies in alternate locations of the inner spiral. I cannot help but wonder if the functionality of the canopies in providing shade from the rain in Singapore, where there is high rainfall. Nevertheless, is still an engineering marvel to replicate the DNA structure!
The sole purpose of the The Helix Bridge is to link up the Marina Bay precinct, from Esplanade, to the Marina Bay Sands (MBS) integrated resort (IR).


The entrance to The Helix Bridge from the street level at Marina Bay grandstand.

There are a few viewing "pods" that protrude out from The Helix Bridge.
These pods provide a breath-taking panoramic view of the City skyline!


Sleek stainless steel structures of The Helix Bridge, a futuristic design.


Steel mesh and fritted glass canopies in alternate segments of The Helix Bridge.


The Singapore Flyer can also be admired from The Helix Bridge.

With only days to the opening of Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort, it is still a question mark, whether the IR can be completed by then. Nevertheless, during my visit, I was impressed by the number of workforce put into action round the clock, trying to put the "lotus" into place and finish some external facade at street level. Nevertheless, the Casino and the Marina Bay Sands Hotel seems complete and only slight interior furnishing touch-up.


The new vehicular Bayfront Bridge is already in operation. It runs side-by-side to The Helix Bridge and cuts through the Marina Bay Sands IR, separating the Marina Bay Sands Hotel and Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands. This road is fed by public bus services: SBS 97/97e: Jurong East to Marina Square (loop), SBS 133: Ang Mo Kio Interchange to The Esplanade, Raffles Avenue (loop), SBS 502: Pioneer Road North to Marina Square (loop), SBS 518: Pasir Ris to Suntec City (loop), SMRT 106: Bukit Batok Interchange to Marina Centre Terminal, Night-rider service: NR1 and NR6 (Available on Fridays and Saturdays).

Part of the external facade of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel is the small stainless steel "leaves" that flutter like a digital equalizer , and ...

... looks even more beautiful when it creates ripple-like effects.

Getting to the Marina Bay Sands by Circle Line (by foot): Exit at Promenade MRT Station and take a 10-minute walk from the station to Bayfront Avenue via the pedestrian footpath adjacent to the public road.

This is it!
The Helix Bridge and the Marina Bay Sands is going to change the history of Singapore.
We will no longer be stuck in vertical shopping malls cramped in Orchard Road!
There will be a new place to meet, wine, dine and chill!
"Let's meet up at MBS!"
This is not Macau, nor is this Las Vegas,
THIS IS SINGAPORE!

Updates on 28th April 2010
See The Helix Bridge and Marina Bay Sands in Lights, at Night here:
"The Helix Bridge Lights & Genetic Mutations"


Photography & Editing by William Tan
©William Tan 2010

Documented using Nikon D200 equipped with
Tamron 18-270mm VC, the one lens that performs in most situations and serves most purposes,
on 25th of April 2010
COMPLETE ALBUM HERE



This is a Singapore-related post

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