Bahrain’s Work’s Ministry is seeking to prequalify firms by 6 October for two contracts related to the Busaiteen link road project.

The first contract is for the general filling, reclamation, dredging and marine works for the second phase of the North Manama Causeway project while the second contract is for the secondary road works for the Busaiteen link road.

The road project entails many components apart from the reclamation package. These include construction of major roads, a signature marine bridge for the fourth Manama-Muharraq crossing, grade-separated interchanges and installation of various services.

The Works Ministry begun selecting a consultant in early 2015 to plan and design the project.

The Saudi Fund for Development will supply funding for the road project.

In early September, a Spanish consultancy firm – Idom Ingenieria y Consultoria – offered the lowest bid, priced at $2.43m, for the consultancy contract to update Bahrain’s urban transit network.

Bahrain has one of the most congested cities in the GCC despite having a population of just 1.3 million. It has about 500,000 registered cars, which has been growing at an average of 11 per cent annually.

In response to these challenges, the government has announced three major rail projects. Two of these, the King Fahd Causeway Rail Link and the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway, are aimed at improving transport links between the island and the kingdom’s immediate neighbours. The third, an ambitious light rail transit (LRT) and monorail network, is focused on improving transport links within the country.

Some progress is being made on the King Fahd Causeway and the LRT scheme, while the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway is still under review.