Oman’s Transport and Communications Ministry has extended the submission date for the first two construction packages on its 265-kilometre long expressway project.

Contractors now have until 12 September to submit bids for the first package on the expressway package. The first package will cover the construction of the 45km stretch from Naseem Garden to Suwaiq. The previous submission date was 15 August.

For the second package, the bid deadline has been extended to 26 September.  The second package will cover the road from Suwaiq to Shinas. The previous submission date for the second package was 22 August.

The 265km-long Batinah Expressway will extend from the current Muscat Expressway to Khatmat Malaha, located on the Oman/UAE border.

The expressway project has been allocated about OR250m ($649m) in the sultanate’s eighth Five-Year Plan (2011 to 2015) which was announced by the government earlier in the year.

The expressway will run parallel to the existing Batinah highway. In March, the ministry invited contractors to submit bids for the design and construction of 24 junctions on the highway (MEED 16:3:11)