King Fahd Causeway turns 30

Manama : King Fahd Causeway, the only causeway linking two Arab countries, marked its 30th year yesterday.

The 25-kilometre causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia was officially opened on November 26, 1986 by the late Emir Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa and the late Saudi King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. 

According to King Fahd Causeway Authority (KFCA), the idea of establishing a terrestrial link between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia was supported by the two countries “as an expression of their wish to facilitate contacts and to increase the links and bonds between them.”

In 1965, the idea began to crystallise officially, particularly during a courtesy visit by Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, to the late King Faisal bin Abdulaziz.

In the year 1968, a joint committee requested the World Bank to contribute to identifying the best way for the implementation of the project taking into consideration the environmental and geographic aspects.

The World Bank sought assistance from specialist international experts and submitted a study following which the two countries decided to set up a ministerial committee to work on the implementation of the project in1976.

In July 1981, Mohammed Aba Al Khail, the then minister for Finance and National Economy in Saudi Arabia and Yousuf Ahmed Al Shirawi, the then Minister of Industrial Development in Bahrain signed the agreement for the construction of the causeway between the two countries.

The causeway was officially opened on November 26, 1986, and it has since been a crucial factor in the increase in the number of travellers and in the volume of commerce carried out by Bahrain and other countries.

According to official figures, 281,755,297 people have used the causeway since it was opened in 1986 until the end of 2014.

Several Saudi Arabia-based Saudi nationals and foreigners who work or study in Bahrain commute daily while a large number of Bahrain-based expatriates and Bahrainis use the causeway daily to go to their work or universities.

Intermarriages and strong family links between Gulf citizens are a significant factor in the regular exchange of visits over the causeway.

The Causeway in figures

• Around 5,000 employees work in three shifts on the causeway

• An average of 26,618 people use the terrestrial link every day 

• The number of vehicles that crossed the causeway in 2014 reached 112,863,043

• Saudi cars coming into Bahrain totalled 3,546,557 

• Bahraini cars driving into the Saudi reached 1,058,279

• The number of cars from other countries was 197,135.

• The number of people leaving Bahrain via the causeway was 11,015,552. 

• Number of people coming into Bahrain through the link was 11,335,525.