A computer-generated image released by the French construction company Vinci SA shows the planned Bahrain-Qatar causeway. Paris-based Vinci Construction Grand Projects, the leader of a consortium of construction companies, and Middle East Dredging Company, have signed a $3 billion contract with the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway Foundation to build the 40km, dual-lane Friendship Bridge.

The motorway will run over 18km of embankments where the sea is shallow and 22km of viaducts and bridges over deep water, including two 400m cable-stayed bridges over shipping channels. At present, the journey by road between Bahrain and Qatar takes five hours; with the causeway, it will only take about 30 minutes.