Saudi Arabia’s Transport Ministry has awarded 41 contracts worth an estimated total of SR3bn ($790m) for various road projects throughout the kingdom.

The contracts cover $56.8m-worth of road deals in the Mecca province, which includes building the first phase of the second ring road in Jeddah. The approved deals also include $71.5m of contracts in the Medina province, which includes the construction of the Medina al-Ula Expressway.

The projects are part of the kingdom’s efforts to expand road links.

In May, the local Saudi Binladin Group was awarded two contracts worth SR1.9bn in total to build roads and related infrastructure in Mecca.

The work will involve the construction of 19.5 kilometres of roads, bridges and tunnels in Mecca and the surrounding area. The first contract involves work on the second ring road and the second contract involves construction works on the third phase of the third ring road. The infrastructure work is part of the King Abdullah construction scheme for Mecca and will take three years to complete.