Tenders are expected to be invited soon for a feasibility study for the estimated US$3,000 million bridge which will be built across the Straits of Tiran, the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba. Several regional banks, investors and contractors including Saudi Aramco, Saudi Binladin Group and Kuwait's Kharafi Group have already expressed an interest, and construction of the link is currently pencilled to start in 2007, with completion set for 2011. It is understood that a management team has been appointed to advise the two governments.

Tolls of approximately US$60-70 per user are expected to be levied on the crossing by the promoting consortium, as the scheme will probably be implemented on a BOT basis. A hefty slice of income will be raised from the estimated four million pilgrims who are expected to use the bridge each year, in addition to the usual commercial and tourist traffic.

The planned bridge will also support two 1m-diameter oil pipelines which will transport Saudi crude oil directly to the Mediterranean export terminal of Sidi Krier. Oil company Aramco, which is expected to take a majority shareholding in the project company, is likely to benefit from savings of up to US$1 million a day from reduced shipping fees and transit time by using the pipeline. A team of Japanese and Danish consultants has carried out the project's initial feasibility study, and the next step is the release of the 12-month full feasibility study tender. Once this study is complete, a design and build tender will be issued.

One of the major obstacles facing engineers will be the technical challenge of building at the site, where the sea is very deep. But the political issues of building a structure across an international waterway which is of strategic importance to Israel and Jordan as well as Egypt and Saudi Arabia could prove even more challenging. Some also question the economic merits of the scheme.

The project has already been on the drawing board for almost 20 years since a protocol agreement was signed between Riyadh and Cairo in 1988. However, the project has gained momentum following the Al-Salam 98 ferry disaster earlier this year, which killed more than 900 people.

Another major scheme which is gathering pace is the 40km-long Friendship Bridge, which is planned to connect Bahrain and Qatar. In June officials in Doha and Manama announced that they had agreed to establish a special purpose project company to build a link between them, seen as a significant moment in the development of the Gulf Cooperation Council. Although the Friendship Bridge will be the longest in the world once it is complete, the project is more than just another mega-project in a region awash with huge infrastructure schemes. One again, economic considerations are not the deciding factor in the planning of this scheme.

According to the pre-feasibility study for the Friendship Bridge, only 6,000 vehicles a day are expected to cross the bridge, a figure that is well below the estimated 10-15,000 a day that use the 25km-long King Fahd causeway between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The traffic figures are so low that it is close to not being feasible, but the significance of the project goes far beyond its role as a transport link. The agreement, which was signed on 11 June by Qatar's Crown Prince Shaikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and his Bahraini counterpart Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, was a clear public commitment by the Gulf's two smallest states of their intention to bring their economies closer together.

The two governments have also investigated whether to use the bridge as an energy corridor carrying electricity power lines and a gas pipeline alongside, to meet Bahrain's growing energy requirements. Sources close to the project in Doha also suggest that a number of artificial island developments could be built along the route of the causeway. Adding a pipeline would make it more viable, as would combining tourist and residential island developments with the project. But such projects are largely political, which is why this one is called the Friendship Bridge; its aim is to bind the two countries together.

The design is likely to be similar to the King Fahd causeway. Although the final details have yet to be released, a pre-feasibility design carried out by consultant Cowi, which also designed the Saudi-Bahraini crossing, developed a conceptual design with about half the crossing on embankment with the other half on a series of short bridges of about 50m spans. Initially it was intended that the project would be offered to contractors on a design-and-build basis but now it seems that the inter-governmental committee responsible for developing the project is considering a more conventional procurement route, with the detailed design being carried out by the client. The Bahrain-Qatar Causeway is just one of the major bridge projects being planned for the Middle East, particularly in the Gulf, as governments seek to develop their road and rail infrastructure to cope with the region's rapid economic expansion.

Information gathered by the Middle East Economic Digest and Meed Projects, about 20 major bridge schemes worth an estimated US$12,000 million are planned or under way in the region. Hundreds of smaller bridge structures such as rail bridges, highway interchanges, flyovers, and so on take the total value of regional bridge projects up to an estimated US$20,000 million.

But in common with many other sectors of construction, Dubai is the Middle East's capital for bridge building today. The emirate faces crippling traffic congestion which is at risk of seriously damaging its future economic prospects if nothing is done to address it. Hence the government is currently ploughing billions into upgrading its transport network.

The first aim in alleviating Dubai's congestion problem is to remove the traffic bottleneck over Dubai Creek. Currently, some 16,000 vehicles an hour cross the creek, but authorities estimate that by 2020 the figure will have risen to about 43,000 an hour. This volume will be far too high for the 19-lane capacity currently provided by the three existing crossings - the Garhoud and Maktoum bridges, and the Shindagha Tunnel.

With this in mind, the Dubai Roads & Transport Authority is pushing ahead with an estimated US$1,000 million bridge-building programme that will see six major new bridges built across the creek by 2010, and which will increase the number of lanes across the creek to 44 by 2008, and more than 90 by 2010.

By the end of next year, an additional 25 lanes of capacity will have been provided with the completion of the two, 520m-long bridges that will form the second Garhoud crossing and the Ras al Khor bridge, both of which are currently under construction.

Meanwhile plans to build a temporary floating bridge were recently announced, and on completion, this will add a further six lanes capacity, significantly reducing the pressure on the Maktoum bridge.

Additional new bridges at Shindagha, close to the existing tunnel crossing, and near the Deira Sheraton will add a further 24 lanes by end of 2008. A second crossing at Ras al Khor is also under consideration. Meanwhile the construction of the Dubai Metro, an elevated line built on some 51km of viaduct through the city, is also intended to reduce pressure on the cross-creek traffic. At least three bridges over the creek are included in this public transport system.

A similar expansion is taking place in Abu Dhabi, which faces similar congestion problems on the crossing to Abu Dhabi island. The government needs to address the rise in traffic generated by commercial developments that are under way, and to provide adequate transport infrastructure for the other islands on the emirate. At least three major bridge projects are being built, including the 1,455m Saadiyat bridge linking Saadiyat island and Abu Dhabi island. The structure not only features five road carriageways in both directions but also includes a corridor for the addition of a twin-track railway at a later date. Another major crossing which is under construction is the Sheikh Zayed Bridge over the Maqta Channel to Abu Dhabi island - this new landmark crossing, designed by architect Zaha Hadid, will add another eight lanes of capacity to the existing island links.

At the other end of the Gulf, Kuwait, which has also embarked on a major programme to develop its road network, is moving ahead with plans for a US$3,000 million project to build a causeway across Kuwait Bay. This 22km-long link will connect Kuwait City with Subiya in the country's northern desert. It will be one of the world's longest bridge links, although not strictly continuous as it will consist of a number of low level bridge structures as well as some embankments. The scheme is seen as essential for the development of Subiya.

The preliminary design for the crossing was carried out by Cowi and earlier this year, eight local and international contractors were prequalified to bid for the main design & build contract. The tender for the crossing is expected to be awarded in September or October, having been somewhat delayed by the country's recent political upheavals. And it seems that progress in other parts of the Gulf is making states more competitive. "There is pressure on the Kuwaitis to deliver this project," says a project source. "Particularly, after the Qatar-Bahrain causeway announcement."

Cowi is also involved in advising the Saudi Railways Organisation on its Landbridge mega-project. This involves construction of a 1,000km freight railway across the Arabian Peninsula from Dammam in Eastern Province to Jeddah on the Red Sea. Detailed designs have yet to be completed but the project is expected to feature a significant number of bridge structures, as is the Saudi Railways Organisation's Makkah to Medina high-speed rail link. Meanwhile in Jordan, construction of the Wadi Abdoun Bridge in Amman is in full swing, with deck erection and cable installation under way on the striking cable-stayed bridge designed by Dar Al Handasah consultants. The bridge, which is due for completion later this year, will connect two districts of the city which are separated by a valley, and is a 390m-long, dual, two-lane bridge which forms an S-curve in plan. It has two continuous cable-stayed spans of 132m each, and two end spans of 63m.

The bridge is supported on three Y-shaped reinforced concrete tower and its deck is made of precast segments, glued and stressed together. Foundations for the three cable-stayed towers consist of large-diameter concrete bored piles socketed in rock. Additional rock anchors were installed in order to resist seismic shocks. Contractor Larsen & Toubro is building the bridge which includes a newly-developed cable saddle design.

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