Probably the most spectacular road construction project of all has been the building of the King Fahd Causeway, connecting the Kingdom with Bahrain. On 11th November 1982, the cornerstone of the bridge was jointly placed by King Fahd and the then ruler of Bahrain, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa. This is a four-lane highway. It is 82 feet [25 m] wide and about 16 miles [26 km] long. The cost of US$ 1.2 billion was paid by the Saudi Arabian Government in line with King Fahd’s policy of increased cooperation with the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The causeway was completed in 1986 and was opened to traffic at the end of that year.
The Ministry of Communications is currently completing a number of dual carriageways linking various cities.
