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( King Fahd Causeway)
The King Fahd Causeway (Arabic ??? ????? ????) is multiple dike - bridge combination connecting Khobar, Saudi Arabia, and the island nation of Bahrain. A construction agreement signed on July 8, 1981 led to construction beginning the next year. The cornerstone was laid on November 11, 1982 by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and Sheikh Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa of Bahrain; construction continued until 1986, when the combination of several bridges and dams were completed. The causeway officially opened for use on November 25, 1986. The project, completely financed by Saudi Arabian money, cost a total of US$1.2 billion and was contracted out to the Ballast Nedam Group based in the Netherlands. The four-lane road (2x12.3&_160;metres (40&_160;ft)) is 25&_160;kilometres (15.5&_160;mi) long. Five bridges with an overall length of 12,430&_160;metres (40,781&_160;ft) were built using 350,000 cubic metres (460,000&_160;yd³) of concrete along with 147,000 metric tons of reinforced steel. The causeway consists of three parts, a combination of three bridges from Khobar to the artificial island on the Saudi Arabia - Bahrain border, including the longest bridge, at 5,194&_160;metres (17,041&_160;ft) long, a bridge from the artificial island to Umm al-Na'san island and another bridge from Umm al-Na'san island to the main island of Bahrain.
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