The bridge, which will span 25 miles across the Gulf, will significantly reduce travel time between Qatar and Bahrain: the journey presently takes about five hours and requires a trip to Saudi Arabia, but via the bridge it will take 30 minutes.
The Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Bridge will begin in Raas Asheerj, Qatar, and will end in North Askar, Bahrain. The bridge will be an extension of the already-existing King Fahd causeway, which links Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
“We hope that the construction of the causeway will lead to greater relationships between the two countries,” a spokesman for the project told The Media Line. “The project has been in the works for a very long time and we are glad that the development has gained approval.”
Originally the project was expected to cost two billion dollars; however, after plans were initiated to include a railway to the bridge, the expected cost rose to seven billion.
This holiday season, give to:
Truth and understanding
The Media Line's intrepid correspondents are in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Pakistan providing first-person reporting.
They all said they cover it.
We see it.
We report with just one agenda: the truth.
Because of its length, the bridge’s formation will consist of nine miles of dams connected by a network of 22 bridges and viaducts, which will also include 250 mile cable-stayed bridges.
Cars are expected to be able to enter the Friendship Bridge as early as 2014, with the construction of the railway taking two additional years.
Because the railway addition is a fairly new development to the construction project, the details of its financing have not yet been announced. Previously, the Qatar Bahrain Causeway foundation was set to foot the majority of the bill, with $2 billion in loans. Qatar and Bahrain were each supposed to pay $350 million.
In May, Qatar announced that it would lend Bahrain its $350 million share to finance the project, with two percent annual interest.
Bahrain and Qatar hope that the bridge will bolster their economic and cultural relations in the way those of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were bolstered after a bridge between the two was built.
The 17-mile King Fahd Causeway, which links Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, has already fostered a strong relationship between the two countries. Completed in 1986, the causeway has long allowed people living in Saudi Arabia to commute to work in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabian students to attend Bahrain universities.