No start date yet for $3bn Qatar-Bahrain bridge

The start date for construction of the Qatar-Bahrain "Friendship Bridge" could be pushed back as the final cost of the project is recalculated, according to a senior official.

Construction of the $3 billion project was scheduled to begin in January, but the secretary general of the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway Foundation, Nayef al-Emadi, said a final date has not been fixed.

"Now that the market is going down we have to review the pricing of the project and some issues relating to the train and confirmation of some other issues," Emadi told Construction Week.

"We are waiting for the (construction) consortium to give us a lump sum cost for the project and then we can enter negotiations for the final price.

"This is why we do not know exactly when we will start construction."

Emadi said the project is not yet delayed and they still hope to start mobilisation and site preparations at the end of January, after which construction was expected to follow.

The construction contract for the project was awarded in May to a consortium of companies led by Paris-based Vinci Construction Grands Projects and Middle East Dredging Company.

US engineering firm KBR and UK firm Halcrow are working together to provide design management, project management, and construction management services to the project.

When completed in 2013 it will be the longest marine causeway in the world and will link the two nations via a twin carriageway spanning more than 40km.

The four-lane highway is expected to cut the travel time by car between Qatar and Bahrain from four and a half hours to around 30 minutes.

The project also includes freight and passenger rail lines, providing a direct connection for high speed freight and passenger trains.

It is envisioned that the railway will eventually be extended in each direction connecting Istanbul in Turkey to Muscat in Oman.

Earlier in the week, the chief executive of Bahrain's Economic Development Board, Sheikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, said the bridge will make the Kingdom an ideal access point for international companies to develop their business across the GCC.

"Bahrain has a strong history of working closely with our neighbours and it is already linked by the very successful King Fahad Causeway to Saudi Arabia," he said.

"The completion of this second causeway will be a welcome further addition to Bahrain's impressive air, sea and road links."

The causeway will consist of 22kms of viaducts, 18kms of embankments and will feature two triangular-shaped cable stay bridges high enough to allow freight ships to pass underneath.