The final value of the contract was BD 20.6 million ($54.2 million), after a repricing exercise involving three of the original bidders - Nass/Murray & Roberts, the local Cebarcowith Malaysia's WCTand Cyprus-based GP Zachariades (GPZ - Overseas)with the Netherlands' Interbeton.

Work is due to start in October, with completion scheduled for 2008. The total length of the bridges is 3.5 kilometres.

Two further tenders are due imminently on the Durrat al-Bahrain project. One covers the first 300 villas on the resort. The second is for infrastructure work, including sewerage, water supply systems and substations. The project manager is Kuwait Management Company, a subsidiary of KFH, and Australia's Bovis Lend Lease.