A long-planned $3bn bridge linking Bahrain and Qatar has been put on hold and the project team scaled back amid escalating costs, sources close to the project have said. The 40-kilometre causeway linking Qatar to Bahrain was set to play a key role in improving infrastructure connections between members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The project, first announced in 2001, had already been delayed in 2008 to change the project scope to include trains, and late last year the countries said work would start in the first quarter and would be completed by 2015. Jassim Ali, a member of the economic committee of Bahrain's parliament, said “the project has been on hold for some time, but it is not cancelled,” adding cost increases and financing issues had played a role. Contractors for the project France’s Vinci and Germany’s Hochtief AG, Qatari Diar Real Estate and Consolidated Contractors Company. A spokesman for Hochtief confirmed the construction phase had never been reached. REUTERS

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