The US’ Parsons and Kuwait’s SSH have submitted the lowest offers for the engineering consultancy role on the Bahrain Northern Link Road (BNLR).

Parsons offered multiple options that ranged from $4.1m to $6.42m, while SSH submitted two options, one valued at $5.57m and the other at $6.47m.

The US’ Aecom also submitted two pricing options for the project: one priced at $8.5m and another priced at $7.7m.

France’ Egis submitted the highest offers, with option one priced at $21.6m and option two priced at $24.2m.

Bahrain’s Works, Municipalities Affairs and Urban Planning Ministry began reviewing technical bids submitted by the four consultancies in early April.

The BNLR is one of two northern peripheral road links that will handle both road and rail traffic from the planned King Hamad Causeway, the second bridge to link Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which will accommodate either just road or road and rail traffic.

The BNLR is a 15-kilometre arterial road featuring six or eight lanes that could either run alongside a light rail or rapid bus transit system.

The other road, called the Bahrain Outer Link Road (BOLR), is 20km long and will extend from the new causeway to Khalifa bin Salman Port. Like the BNLR, it will include motorway and rail lines to handle freight and passengers.

The planned 20km King Hamad Causeway will be the second bridge to link Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and will include a station and a freight yard on reclaimed land to the northwest of Muharraq. Canada’s SNC Lavalin is understood to have conducted the feasibility study on the project, which highlights two alignment options, both of which are to the north of the existing causeway.

The existing King Fahd Causeway opened in 1986 and extends for a total length of 25km. The bridge cost an estimated $1.2bn to construct. On average, the bridge serves about 45,000 vehicles a day. That figure increases to about 60,000 vehicles during weekends. The bridge has been undergoing an expansion to ease severe congestion during peak periods.