The Saudi–Egypt Causeway is a proposal to link

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

with a

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet T ...

and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

Profile

Egyptian president

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil El-Sisi (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has been serving as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. After the 2011 Egyptian revolution and 201 ...

suggested naming the proposed structure " King Salman bin Abdulaziz Bridge" in 2016. The entire project is expected to cost about 4 billion US dollars and will be financed by Saudi Arabia. The causeway would link Tabuk to the Red Sea resort of

Sharm el-Sheikh Sharm El Sheikh (, , literally "bay of the Sheikh"), alternatively rendered Sharm el-Sheikh, Sharm el Sheikh, or Sharm El-Sheikh, is an Egyptian city on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, in South Sinai Governorate, on the coastal strip alo ...

on the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

and would pass through

Tiran Island Tiran ( ''Jezîret Tīrān'', ''Jazīrat Tīrān''), and ''Yotvat Island'', was part of Egypt before but is now administered by Saudi Arabia after the approval of the Parliament of Egypt and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Geography The is ...

at the entrance of the

Gulf of Aqaba The Gulf of Aqaba () or Gulf of Eilat () is a large gulf at the northern tip of the Red Sea, east of the Sinai Peninsula and west of the Arabian Peninsula. Its coastline is divided among four countries: Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. ...

. Funding for the causeway was announced from the Saudi Binladin Group, which would work with the Egyptian government-run firm

Arab Contractors The Arab Contractors, known locally as Al Mokawloon Al Arab (), is an Egyptian regional construction and contracting company. History It was established in 1955 by Osman Ahmed Osman, an Egyptian entrepreneur and politician who served as Egypt's ...

. The proposed construction projects aim to create closer links between the two nations and create jobs on both sides. This is part of a greater plan by the Egyptian government, which intends to populate the Sinai peninsula. It will also provide an alternative

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

route, and is expected to serve a million passengers and pilgrims annually. Concerns have been raised about environment effects and by neighbors regarding security. The extra traffic and additional development could cause a further decline of the threatened

Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...

dugong The dugong (; ''Dugong dugon'') is a marine mammal. It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest ...

population and increase damage to coral reefs and fisheries. One such organization, the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association (HEPCA), approves a bridge subject to reefs not being harmed and an environmental survey with recommendations implemented. Article V of the

Camp David Accords The Camp David Accords were a pair of political agreements signed by Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin on 17 September 1978, following twelve days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the country retre ...

between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and Egypt provides for the right of freedom of navigation through the

Strait of Tiran The Straits of Tiran ( ') are the narrow sea passages between the Sinai and Arabian peninsulas that connect the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. The distance between the two peninsulas is about . The Multinational Force and Observers monitors th ...

. The project was suspended in 2005 by the

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...

government, due to security concerns voiced by Israel. Before it lost power, the

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 King Salman Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; born 31 December 1935) has been King of Saudi Arabia since 2015, and was Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. He is the 25th son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. He assumed the thro ...

of Saudi Arabia announced with Egypt's President El-Sisi an agreement to build a bridge between the two countries. The announcement followed Egypt and Saudi Arabia signing an agreement on maritime border demarcation and marking the islands of Tiran and Sanafir within Saudi regional waters. Israel announced that it does not object to the island transfer. In June 2025, Egypt's Transport Minister

Kamel al-Wazir Kamel al-Wazir () is the transportation minister, the industry and trade minister and the deputy prime minister of Egypt. He succeeded Minister Hisham Arafat who resigned after the Ramses Station rail disaster. Kamel al-Wazir had been heading th ...

confirmed that the planning for the project had been completed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saudi-Egypt Causeway International bridges Bridges in Egypt Bridges in Saudi Arabia Proposed bridges in Asia Egypt–Saudi Arabia relations Proposed transcontinental crossings

Profile

See also

References