Authority issues Saudi-Bahrain crossing tender

13 November 2018
King Hamad Causeway will feature a 25 kilometre road and rail causeway in the same alignment as the existing King Fahd Causeway

King Fahd Causeway Authority (KFCA) has invited prequalified consultants to bid by 21 February for the transaction advisory contract for King Hamad Causeway, the second crossing to link Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The transaction advisory contract will be awarded to a consortium of financial, technical and legal consultants.

More than 200 financial, legal and engineering firms as well as contractors expressed interest in the project last year.

King Hamad Causeway will feature a 25-kilometre road and rail causeway in the same alignment as the existing King Fahd Causeway. The railway segment will extend inland by another 21km into Saudi Arabia and 24km into Bahrain.

UK-based consultancy PwC completed a due diligence study for the project in cooperation with Canada-based SNC Lavalin last year.

Traffic volumes at the existing King Fahd Causeway, the first bridge to link Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, have convinced authorities to build the second causeway, which will also have a rail component.

In 2016, an average of 30,332 cars per day used the existing causeway, which began operating in 2002.

The tender for the main contract to build, finance and operate the second causeway was expected to be issued in early 2019.

MEED understands construction work on the scheme, which has a budget between $3bn and $4bn, could start by mid-2021 and take three years.

The project clients, comprising the transport ministries of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and the King Fahd Causeway Authority, had initially planned to issue the tender by December.

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