Work on a BD45 million ($119.4 million) project to develop a new causeway in Bahrain linking Sitra to Manama will begin early next year.

The new development will come up west of the existing Sitra Causeway and will be ready by early 2006.
In the initial phase of the project, the new bridge will be used to redirect traffic from the existing causeway. Once the entire new causeway is ready, the existing causeway will be demolished.
The tender for the construction of the causeway, will be issued after the completion of the proposal by Cowi Almoayyed Gulf, while was awarded the BD1.2 million consultancy bid for the project.
The ministry is currently evaluating a number of alternatives and options for the bridge’s design, which is expected to cost between BD35 million to BD45 million to construct.
The consultant will also provide proposals linked to the causeway. They include the development of the Umm Al Hassam intersection, flyovers linking the new causeway with the Ahmed Al Fateh Highway and the Sitra Commercial Complex (under construction) and other flyovers linked with Nabeh Saleh.
The new six-lane causeway will comprise a 200-m-long northern bridge (the same length as the existing bridge), and a southern bridge that will be reduced in length from 756 m to 300 m long, due to changes in the flows within Tubli Bay.