Foundation and Structural Design of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

Egypt has been the cradle of western civilization and has enjoyed a strategic location, being in the center of the old world. It was Alexander the Great's dream of unifying the world that sparked the thought of creating a great library that gathered the cultures and civilizations known at that time. Bibliotheca Alexandrina appeared on a site near the famous lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The library was founded in the year 295 BC. The objective of the library was to copy, translate, interpret and store books, in order to lead the progress of human society and culture. The ancient library was destroyed, some say, by Julius Caesar' fire ship in 48BC. With an aim to revive the world's most famous ancient library, the New Bibliotheca Alexandrina has been constructed in Alexandria, Egypt. The new complex lies almost at the same site as its predecessor. On the side ancient Royal quarter, the new Alexandria Library will give modern expression to an ancient endeavor. It will join the international information networks, with information stored in a database accessible to researchers and readers all over the world. In 1990, the Snohetta/Hamza Consortium was established between Snohetta of Norway and Hamza Associates of Egypt to plan, design, issue the tender documents, and supervise construction. The design concept, the critical ground conditions and the aggressive saline environment, due to the proximity to the sea, required remarkable foundation and structural works. This paper presents the foundation and structural design of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. The various elements of the library building are described and the structural design challenges are summarized. The sophisticated geotechnical and structural analyses that were carried out during the design stage are also described.