Conference day one: Monday 19 March 2012

09:00 Chairman’s welcome and opening remarks

09:40 Valuing the contribution of an ‘iconic’ or ‘landmark bridge’ & Harmonising the aesthetic impact of a landmark structure with a well designed urban environment

Martin Knight
Managing Director, Knights Architects, Member
IABSE and Council Member RIBA

10:05 Restructuring urban developments

Dr. Maher Abouseif
Advisor
Minister of Municipalities and Urban Planning, Bahrain

10:30 Overview of Royal Commission bridges projects and tenders

12:00 Stainless steel for a sustainable future

12:30 INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: Investigating bridge architecture within the context of an urban environment

This interactive session will begin with a 15 minute presentation from FXFOWLE and will be followed by a 15 minute panel discussion in order to provide the delegation with an opportunity to hear from Saudi Arabia’s bridge architects to discuss and explore bridge architecture within an urban context. Key ideas to be discussed include:

• Conducting architectural studies to understand urban environment scenes and determining suitability of the bridge design options
• Developing city-wide architectural bridge guidelines to enhance the urban image
• Considering the use of Islamic art as a bridge façade or detail
• Complimenting bridge architectural design with landscaping features to create public-friendly spaces

Panelists include:

14:00 Exclusive presentation by:

14:30 Q AND A: Anatomy of a Saudi Private Public Partnership (PPP) project - Private sector and GCC investment funding in relation to Saudi Arabia infrastructure market

Anthony Smith
Head
United Nations PPP Readiness Task Force

15:30 Effectively managing a complex bid process for your client

Stephen Lines
President - Middle East
The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB)

Optimising bridge design without compromising critical factors such as safety and quality – part 1

15:55 Examining the design of cost optimised bridge foundations – part 1

Professor Dr. Ing. Rolf Katzenbach
Director of the Institute and Laboratory of Geotechnics
Technische Universität Darmstadt

16:20 INTERACTIVE PANEL DISCUSSION: Pre-qualifying project partners and solution providers for bridge projects in Saudi Arabia

This interactive session will provide an opportunity for key stakeholders of Saudi Arabia’s bridge projects to discuss and explore bridge tenders and contracts. Key areas to be addressed include:

• Evaluating objectives based on a set criteria for each organisation
• Assessing an applicant’s suitability to be added to and remain on the list of pre-qualified project partners
• Meeting local standards and requirements for Saudi Arabia
• Ensuring your organisation can clearly demonstrate that they are qualified to perform the required tasks
• Discussing the formation of a consortia in order to combine capabilities and capacities of the participating organisations

Panelists include:

17:15 Chair’s closing remarks and end of conference day 1