Egypt “ready to implement” bridge to Saudi Arabia over Red Sea

Egypt’s transport minister Kamel al-Wazir has announced that plans are progressing for a bridge connecting Egypt and Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea.

“We have now completed the planning for the bridge between Egypt and Saudi Arabia and are ready to implement it at any time, whether a bridge or a tunnel,” Al-Wazir, who is also Egypt’s deputy prime minister, told news agency Reuters.

Bridge will connect Africa and Asia

If completed, the bridge will link Ras Alsheikh Hamid in Saudi Arabia with Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, crossing Tiran Island in between.

Aiming to boost trade and tourism between Africa and Asia, the project is planned as a high-speed railway that will transport cargo over the Straits of Tiran sea passage.

Plans to build a bridge across the Red Sea were originally announced in 2016 by Saudi Arabia’s king Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

“This historic step to connect the two continents, Africa and Asia, is a qualitative transformation that will increase trade between the two continents to unprecedented levels,” he said at the time.

Bridge expected $4 billion

Expected to cost around $4 billion (£2.9 billion), the major infrastructure project will be financed by Saudi Arabia and is set to complement the country’s controversial Neom giga project, which borders the Red Sea.

Neom’s most high-profile project is The Line megacity, which is set to comprise a pair of parallel 500-metre-high skyscrapers that stretch 170 kilometres.

Neom climate advisor Donald Wuebbles recently warned that the scale of The Line, which is currently progressing in northwest Saudi Arabia, could affect local weather patterns.

In Egypt, photos were recently revealed of the country’s New Administrative Capital, which is being built 45 kilometres east of Cairo and is planned to accommodate over six million people.

The top image is taken from Google Maps.

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