Gulf Construction Online - Bahrain plans to build two new bridges

Regional News

Bahrain plans to build two new bridges

01 October 2018

A new bridge linking Arad and Hidd and a second bridge linking the Muharraq jetty with Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Bridge in Hidd are expected to be built in Bahrain in the next five years.

The projects were debated last month by the Muharraq Municipal Council’s general secretariat, after details were presented by Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Minister Essam Khalaf.

It was revealed the first bridge alone will cost millions of dinars, with BD7 million ($18.5 million) required for land reclamation and BD5 million for associated works.

Funding has already been secured for the first bridge from the GCC. However, the second bridge would mark the second phase of the project and negotiations for additional GCC funding are required.

Arad MP and former council vice-chairman Ali Al Muqla told the our sister publication GDN that the Arad-Hidd bridge had already been given the go-ahead by one of Bahrain’s neighbours, which has pledged funding.

“The Hidd-Arad Bridge will undergo a 12-month study before being tendered for construction and we expect the whole process to take between three and five years, with the project being ready by 2023,” said Muqla.

The second bridge is reported to have been approved as a concept by Khalaf, but is still in the early stages.

Meanwhile, work on the $4-billion King Hamad Causeway, connecting Bahrain to Saudi Arabia, is set to kick off by mid-2021 and will be completed in three years, reported Arab News, citing the Saudi ambassador to Bahrain.

“The tender for the King Hamad Causeway will be launched after six months,” Abdullah Al Shaikh told the Saudi daily.

Al Shaikh estimated that the cost of the project ranges between $3 and $4 billion and said the causeway will also include a railway line linking it to the GCC network that would also be used by cargo trains.