Probably the most spectacular road construction project of all has been the building of the King Fahd Causeway, connecting the Saudi Arabian mainland with the island of Bahrain. On 11th November, 1982, the cornerstone of the bridge was jointly placed by King Fahd and the then ruler of Bahrain, Sheikh Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa. This is a four-lane highway, 25 meters wide and about 26 kilometers long. Building works, costing US$ 1.2 billion, financed entirely by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, were completed in 1986 (1406/07 AH) and the Causeway was opened to traffic at the end of that year.
In 2001, 2.7 million cars, carrying over 10 million passengers, had used this causeway.
