The Qatar Bahrain Causeway (also referred to as the Qatar Bahrain Friendship Bridge) was a planned causeway between the two Arab states of Qatar and Bahrain. It was also expected that a ferry service would be established between the two countries in 2017. Due to the Qatar diplomatic crisis and Bahrain's siding with Saudi Arabia, plans to construct the bridge had stalled. That crisis was resolved in 2021 with the re-establishment of diplomatic trade and transportation ties. History It was announced on 13 December 2008 that construction would start in early 2009, and would cost approximately US$2.3 billion to complete. As of June 2015, construction had not started, and the Qatar–Bahrain Causeway project was on hold, while the contracting consortium involved with the project was said to be demobilising, according to a source at the Qatar Bahrain Causeway Foundation (QBCF). On 14 January 2011, Bahrain's Foreign Minister stated that the project should nevertheless be considered as a must for both countries: "This is one economic market, one economic zone that should be well-connected, and the bridge is an integral part of that". On 27 April 2011, an announcement was made, quoting an anonymous source of Bahrain's Al Wasat newspaper, that construction of the causeway would start in 2011 for completion in 2015, at the cost of approximately $5 billion. By December 2012, Bahrain's Foreign Minister was invoking financial turbulence to say that the bridge construction would only be completed by "a little before the 2022 FIFA World Cup." Overview The link between the two countries would be approximately in length, and support both a road and a railway. The link was expected to consist of a number of bridges and be a natural extension of the King Fahd Causeway that connects Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, thus linking the entire region. These links include of artificial dikes and of viaducts and bridges. These bridges would be in height at places to allow maritime navigation. The eastern-end of the causeway in Qatar would be located at Ras Ashairij, South of the city of Zubarah. The opposite end of the causeway would link North of Askar in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Plans for its construction were first made in September 2001, when the Danish consultancy COWI signed a DKK 60 million contract for the first phase of the project with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture in Qatar. Together with Sund &