KBR announced on Friday from Houston that it has been awarded a contract by the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway Foundation (QBC Foundation) to provide design management, project management, and construction management services for the Qatar-Bahrain road and rail marine crossing. The QatarBahrain Foundation is a bi-national institution created in 2006 by the Emir of Qatar and the King of Bahrain for the purpose of developing and managing the causeway project. Dr. Ahmed Hassan Al-Hammadi, chairman of the Board of Directors for the Foundation, said: “The Foundation is pleased to have KBR, an international company of the highest reputation, working in partnership with us to manage this prestigious project. KBR's Management and Engineering team was selected after two competitive tendering events from among five international companies that expressed interest.” KBR's work on the contract, in association with Halcrow, a UK-based international engineering company, is expected to begin immediately with the first two phases consisting of management planning and design oversight. The QatarBahrain Causeway is a four lane, 40 kilometer long, highway corridor consisting of roadway sections on reclaimed embankment and natural islands, low level bridge structures and signature suspension bridges. The project also includes freight and passenger rail lines, providing a direct connection for high-speed freight and passenger rail between the State of Qatar and the Kingdom of Bahrain. It is envisioned that the railway will eventually be extended in each direction connecting Istanbul, Turkey to Muscat, Oman, and becoming the main rail link for the Middle East Gulf coast countries. “KBR is honored to be selected as the Project Manager for this significant bi-national transportation infrastructure project,” said Bruce Stanski, KBR president, Government & Infrastructure. “I am confident that, working in partnership with the QBC Foundation, KBR's expertise and unwavering commitment to our client will lead to the successful completion of this long awaited project.” Dubbed the “Friendship Bridge,” the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway is symbolic of the longstanding, positive relations between the two countries. Once complete, the causeway will be the world's longest marine causeway, connecting the two countries from the West Coast of Qatar near the Zubarah fortress and the East Coast of Bahrain south of its capital Manama. __
