Work is to begin on the first of two superhighways to link the $795 million Durrat Al Bahrain resort city being built in the south of Bahrain.

The 35 km Durrat Al Bahrain Highway will connect the Askar Roundabout near Alba with the 20 sq km resort city. It will provide a straight-through route to the resort, said Finance and Economy Ministry's government shareholdings director Mahmood Al Kooheji.

The new highway will be built along Bahrain's east coast, past the Shaikh Isa Air Base, he continued. The Works Ministry's Roads Directorate has awarded the contract to the local Al Haiki Construction Company.

A second 30 km highway will be built north to south connecting Durrat Al Bahrain with the Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Highway near Bahrain University's Al Sakhir campus

"Construction will begin once the second phase of the Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Highway extension between Hamad Town and Al Sakhir is finished," he said.

Meanwhile, 85 residential plots have already been sold at Durrat Al Bahrain, as the mega resort prepares to launch a global marketing blitz to boost property sales. Phase One development will include 400 single unit residential plots on three man-made islands, as well as along the shoreline.

"Our feasibility forecasts show as many as 5,000 residential units could be built over the next five years," said Al Kooheji.

Construction of 22 model homes will begin in December.

"The design range will be broad, beginning with three-bedroom four-plex townhouses to 35-room two-storey villas," said Al Kooheji.

Meanwhile, project engineers have completed an environmental computer model to safeguard offshore dredging and development.

The project's second administrative facility has just been opened. The BD250,000 multi-purpose building is situated between the Aqua Park and Phase One development area.