Bahrain and Qatar will soon invite international bids to build a $1.8 billion causeway linking the two Gulf states, a Bahraini official said.

“We are appointing a project manager and will soon put out tenders for the project – both construction and consultancy,” said Essam Khalaf, an assistant secretary at the Public Works and Housing Ministry.
“We are waiting for a decision from a joint (Qatar-Bahrain) technical committee before announcing it,” he said.
Danish engineering consultancy group Cowi International has provided a preliminary design for the 40-km causeway which will link the island state of Bahrain to the northwestern coast of Qatar, Khalaf said.
About half of the causeway will consist of bridges and the rest of a highway built on reclaimed land. Flyovers will be as high as 40 m above sea level at one point to allow ship crossings.
Khalaf said the project could take four years to build, adding that the two countries had yet to decide how to share the costs.