Hyundai on track with US$3 billion Kuwait causeway

Authorities in Kuwait say the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah causeway project is on track to be completed in 2018.

South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering and Construction is working with Kuwait’s Combined Group Contracting Company on the project.

The US$3 billion causeway, developed under the auspices of the Kuwait Ministry of Public Works, is one of the largest infrastructure projects in the region, with a total length of 36 km, 27 km of which is a marine bridge.

Project engineer Mai Al Messad said the bridge – positioned between 9m and 23m above sea level – will rest on some 1,500 piles, each with a diameter of up to 3m, some driven as deep as 72m into the seabed.

She said, "We have already completed 73% of the project and hope to finish it ahead of the contractual period."

The causeway will connect Kuwait City on the south of the bay with Subiya New Town on the north, and the development goes hand-in-hand with the construction of new highway routes to the north of Kuwait, where it is anticipated up to US$100 billion is to be spent, as part of a planned revival of the ancient Silk Road trade route.