Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority has invited contractors to bid by 19 March for the contract to build the second phase of the infrastructure for the Dubai Water Canal project.

The contract involves the construction of two separate bridges that will take Al-Wasl road and Jumeirah Beach road across the new waterway.

The Jumeirah Beach Road bridge will be 220 metres long and 26m wide with 3 lanes of traffic in each direction. The bridge on Al-Wasl Road will be 530m long and 19m wide with two lanes of traffic in each direction. It will also have a 900m long direction ramp connecting to the bridge.

Contractors began forming joint ventures for the contract in January when the RTA briefed firms ahead of the tender to give them time to try to secure funding for the project.

It is understood that major local construction companies have teamed up with international companies, which will be able to bring funding from their home countries. Chinese and Turkish firms are among those that are forming joint ventures.

In October 2013, Turkey’s Gunal was awarded a contract that involves building a 16-lane bridge that will take traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road across the proposed Dubai Water Canal project that involves taking Dubai creek from the Business Bay area to the Gulf. The contractor is providing funding for the works.

The RTA recently has approved a new AED7bn ($1.9bn) budget for 2014 that allocates AED3.6bn for construction projects. One of the schemes is a major bridge across Dubai Creek.

Al-Ittihad Bridge will be a 12-lane (six in each direction) bridge that will replace the existing Floating Bridge. The 61.6m-wide bridge will have an arch that rises 100m, enabling traffic movement non-stop all day and passage of bulky ships on Dubai Creek underneath. The bridge will also have a footpath in each direction.

The RTA plans to award the construction contract for the bridge by the end of 2014. The consultant is US-based Parsons International.