Qatar-Bahrain Friendship Bridge

The Qatar Bahrain Causeway (QBC), also referred to as the Qatar Bahrain Friendship Bridge is a 40km-long causeway connecting Qatar and Bahrain in the Middle East. After completion ? expected to be shortly before the 2020 FIFA World Cup ? it will be the world?s longest fixed causeway. Connecting northern Qatar with the eastern coast of Bahrain, the link will be a natural extension to the King Fahd Causeway that connects Bahrain with Saudi Arabia.

The QBC is expected to have dual carriageway, a twin track rail corridor and will start from Askar until RasIshairij in Qatar. The sea link includes a series of artificial dykes for shallow sections and spans for deep sections for a total of 18km of dykes, 22km of viaducts and bridge and two cable-stayed bridges 400 meters high to permit maritime navigation. The rail lines may be extended to connect Istanbul, Turkey to Muscat, Oman, making it the main rail link for Middle East Gulf Coast countries. The causeway is expected to be used by 4,000 cars daily on the first year and up to 5,000 cars within the following year. After completion, the QBC will reduce the travel time between Qatar and Bahrain from 5 hours to just 30 minutes.