Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has signed a revised contract with South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Construction (Daewoo E&C) for the construction of the north-south link of the E Ring Road.

At $590m, the revised contract is $140m lower compared to the original value signed in September 2016.

The reduction in contract value follows a revision to the original plan, a South Korean media report said.

The project is part of Qatar’s multibillion dollar Expressway Programme.

The contract calls for Daewoo E&C to add a 4.5-kilometre extension to Qatar’s E-Ring expressway, while also building 4 kilometres of roads with three multilevel intersections.

Qatar’s expressway programme contains provisions for a total of 35 road schemes to be executed between 2010 and 2017. It will deliver a total of 900km of mainline carriageway and about 200km at grade and multi-level intersections.

In January, Ashghal retendered work for the design and construction of the Al-Bustan North road, also a key segment of its expressway programme.

A team comprising Turkey’s Yuksel Insaat and Spain’s Ferrovial, which said it won the contract worth $789m in September last year, did not submit an offer. A source familiar with the project cited “difficulties during the contract negotiation” that led to the retendering of the contract.