Bridges link the entire region
The link is expected to consist of a number of bridges crossing the waters of the Arabian Gulf, combined with roads constructed on causeways and will be a natural extension of the King Fahd Causeway that connects Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, thus linking the entire region.
It will be a fantastic boon for the three independent Arab States of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar.
Plans for its construction were first made in September 2001, when the Danish consultancy COWI signed a DKK 60 million Danish Krone contract for the first phase of the project with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture in Qatar. Together with Sund & Bælt Partner Ltd., DHI Water & Environment and the architects Dissing+Weitling, COWI conducted pre-studies of the causeway link.
The project was reportedly approved for construction on February 28, 2005, to link Bahrain near the capital city, Manama, to northwest Qatar near Zubarah as the longest fixed link in the world. A formal agreement between the two countries was signed on June 11, 2006 to form a company that would raise the necessary capital and initiate construction.
Later, it was announced on September 30, 2007 that construction should start within seven months and last 4 years.
A memorandum of understanding to that effect was then signed between the Qatar and Bahrain Causeway Foundation and a consortium of companies led by a major French construction company, Vinci Construction and the German Company, HOCHTIEF Construction AG, plus Consolidated Contractors Company and Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company.
As of May 2008 construction was to begin, following a 9-month study period, and be completed in 51 months.
On November 15, 2008, the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway Foundation awarded a contract to KBR, an engineering company with its headquarters in Houston, Texas, "to provide design, project and construction management services for the Qatar-Bahrain road and rail marine crossing."
Dr. Ahmed Hassan Al Hammadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation, said KBR was selected after two rounds of competitive tendering from among five international companies that had expressed an interest in the scheme.
This will undoubtedly be a fantastic iconic project that will transform links between the neighbouring Gulf States of Qatar and Bahrain, providing the island of Bahrain, especially, with a much-improved vital, more direct, link, not only to Qatar, but further east towards the United Arab Emirates [U.A.E], which include Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
This exciting project will be a tremendous improvement in road communications for the whole Arabian Gulf area.
