$142bn in GCC road, rail and bridge projects

The GCC has $18bn worth of ongoing road projects, according to Ventures Middle East.

RELATED ARTICLES: Qatar, KSA consume 50% of GCC building materials | UTICO lands utility projects worth $4bn across GCC | Expert urges GCC countries to scrap the masterplan

The GCC has $142bn worth of road and bridge projects underway, or in the planning stages, according to figures released by market analyst Ventures Middle East. Saudi Arabia accounts for a third of this amount.

According to the Kuwait Financial Centre or Markaz, GCC countries are on track to spend $97bn between 2011 and 2020 on new road and railway projects.

Railway projects, including rail, metro, tram and stations, are valued at $79bn. This includes the $30bn GCC rail network. This will begin from Kuwait and pass through Saudi Arabia’s eastern city of Dammam.

It will connect to Bahrain through a bridge that runs parallel to the King Fahd Causeway before reaching Qatar via Salwa. Qatar and Bahrain will be connected by a bridge.

Story continues below

Advertisement

FEATURED COMMENT Please click here to comment on this article

Markaz reports in its latest installment of the GCC infrastructure series that the total value of ongoing projects in roads sector to be almost $18bn.

The report also points out the GCC has historically focused its transportation investments in building roadways, thus ensuring high-quality roads across most of the region.

Almost 100% of the roads in the GCC are paved, compared to the average in other emerging countries, which is below 75%.

The aggregate length of roads available in the GCC is 291,313 km. Of this, 75% is in Saudi Arabia. By the end of June 2011, the GCC had around $18bn worth of 'ongoing' road projects.

Driving the $48bn worth of investment in road and bridge projects is the Ministry of Transport, Saudi Arabia which will be joining the 2nd Annual Bridges Saudi Arabia summit, from 18 to 21 March 2012 at The Four Seasons, Riyadh.