[UPDATE May 3, 2007: The latest issue of Arab News carries a correction stating that the Governor of Tabuk says no feasibility study has been undertaken and that the original article is in error. Oh, well...]

This is a pretty ambitious undertaking. The proposed bridge would run from Tabuk, in Saudi Arabia, to Sharm Al-Sheikh, at the foot of the Sinai Peninsula, where the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba join the Red Sea. The bridge would span the Gulf of Aqaba, Jordan’s port city. The project should also provide thousands of jobs for its construction and I’m betting that most of the labor will be Egyptian. This Arab News article notes that when completed, the bridge will cut travel time to Egypt to only 20 minutes and will lessen the cost of Egyptian imports.

Saudi-Egyptian Causeway to Link Two Continents
P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

JEDDAH, 3 May 2007 — During his visit to the Kingdom’s northern region next week, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah is expected to launch a number of important projects, including the long-awaited Saudi-Egyptian Causeway which will link the continents of Asia and Africa.

The Saudi monarch, who is visiting the region for the first time since becoming king in 2005, will also open the project for the construction of Tabuk University. The first phase of the project will cost about SR1 billion ($375 million) and include 16 colleges.

Informed sources said King Abdullah would lay the foundation stone for the 50-km causeway linking Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The causeway will be built in three years at a cost of $3 billion. It will link Ras Humaid in Tabuk with Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt and pass through Tiran Island. A consortium of Saudi, Egyptian and international companies will implement the project without causing financial liability to either government, the sources said.
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