Qatar-Bahrain causeway now slated for 2010 start

The causeway will reduce travel time between the two states to around 30 minutes

By Andy Sambidge

Construction work on the $3 billion Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Causeway, which was scheduled to begin by the end of this year, is now expected to start in 2010.

The construction of the causeway was originally supposed to begin in May 2008.

“Work on the project will start in 2010 and it is expected to take four-and-a-half years to complete,” Bahrain's Works Minister Fahmi al-Jowder said in comments published by Gulf Daily News.

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“Negotiations are still underway regarding the cost and are expected to be finalised by the end of the year, but initial estimates hover around the $3bn mark. Bahrain and Qatar have already allocated a budget of $500mn to start the project,” he told the paper.

Al-Jowder said a detailed design of the causeway, which incorporates a 13-metre wide railroad bridge, was currently being developed.

Work will start on the motorway and then in 2012, work will being for the railway bridge, with rail tracks being added later.

The 40km-long causeway (22km bridge and 18km embankments) will be the world’s longest marine causeway when complete.

It will connect the west coast of Qatar near the Zubara fort to the east coast of Bahrain, south of its capital Manama.

“We are moving on certain areas, but are probably a bit delayed in other areas,” the minister added.

With the completion of the causeway, travel time from Qatar to Bahrain by car is expected to be reduced from four-and-a-half hours to around 30 minutes.

According to an earlier estimate, the volume of traffic on the causeway is expected to be around 10,000 to 12,000 vehicles a day.