Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) says it will tender the construction contract for the QR2.5bn ($687m) Lusail Expressway by 21 December.

The tender process is already behind schedule, but companies have now been prequalified.

“The Lusail highway is complex and it is already behind [schedule], but it will be tendered within the next 30 days,” says Jamal Shareeda al-Kaabi, manager of roads and drainage networks design at Ashghal.

Tenders were initially due to go out in August (MEED 24:6:10). Construction work will take 36 months so it could be complete in 2014.

The Lusail Expressway projects will be tendered as a single deal and will be among the biggest roads in the region when complete.

It will be about 12 kilometres long and will run from Doha city to Lusail and then on to the Pearl. It will have about 16 lanes, some of which will reach up to two or three levels. The expressway will also include three major interchanges, slip roads, underpasses, bicycle lane.

Speaking at MEED’s Roads, Bridges and Tunnels 2010 conference, Al-Kaabi also said that the construction deals for two other major road projects will be awarded before the end of 2010. These include Dukhan Central, which is the QR1.5bn second phase of Dukhan highway and the F-Ring road which is part of the Doha Expressway.

The F-ring road work will be approximately 8km in length and will extend from the intersections of Abu Hamur and Al-Muntazah streets to the New Doha International Airport. The project will include the construction of a three-lane dual carriageway, four interchanges, infrastructure and landscaping

Ashghal is also in negotiations with a contractor for the construction of Dukhan East and this will be awarded in January 2011. Tenders for the Dukhan Industrial East road will be tendered within the next two weeks.

Another major project planned is the Orbital highway. This will be Qatar’s longest road running from Ras Laffan in the north to Mesaieed in the south. It will be used by trucks transporting freight between the ports. Ashghal is currently looking at the concept and detailed design before it is tendered.

All of these projects are part of Qatar’s plans to invest $20bn on new roads and related drainage and infrastructure in the next five years.