Qatar Bahrain Causeway

The Qatar Bahrain Causeway (also referred to as the Qatar Bahrain Friendship Bridge) is an often announced, often delayed planned causeway between the two Arab states of Qatar and Bahrain. It was announced on the 13 December 2008 that construction would start in early 2009, and would cost approximately US$2.3 billion to complete. As of November 2010, construction had not started, and the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway project was on hold, while the contracting consortium involved with the project was said to be demobilising, according to a source at the Qatar Bahrain Causeway Foundation (QBCF). On January 14, 2011, Bahrain's Foreign Minister stated that the project should nevertheless be considered as a must for both countries: "This is one economic market, one economic zone that should be well-connected, and the bridge is an integral part of that". On April 27, 2011, an announcement was made, quoting an anonymous source of Bahrain's Al Wasat newspaper, that construction of the causeway would start in 2011 for completion in 2015, at the cost of approximately $5 billion.