New carriageway: Ministry to opt for cost-viable 100km route as an alternative to 55km alignment that would have necessitated the construction of expensive tunnels and bridges spanning the governorate’s extremely rugged terrain
A long-stalled bid to link three key population centres of Musandam Governorate with a modern carriageway received a shot in the arm late last week when His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik called for its expeditious implementation along an alternative, cost-effective alignment in place of a shorter, but prohibitively expensive, route that has long stymied its delivery.
In a statement on Thursday, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT) responded to His Majesty the Sultan’s directive by pledging to go ahead with the execution of the Diba-Lima-Khasab road project along a revised, but abundantly feasible, alignment.
Indeed, when eventually brought into operation, the new carriageway will serve as a new lifeline for investment and development across infrastructure, tourism, livestock, farming and social welfare, in this strategically vital part of the Sultanate, overlooking the Strait of Hormuz.
But in opting for the alternative 100-km route, authorities will likely jettison a longstanding plan for the execution of the Diba-Lima-Khasab link along a shorter 55-km alignment traversing some of the most rugged and mountainous terrain in the country.
That would have necessitated the construction of tunnels totalling a staggering 21 kilometres in length, in addition to 14 high-altitude bridges — capital-intensive features that would have boosted the cost of the entire project to well over $1 billion, market experts have warned.
Also, given the complexity of the project and the substantive capital cost involved, authorities had conceived a Design, Construction, Operation and Maintenance (DCOM) model for the delivery of the carriageway.
As part of its remit, the successful bidder would have been required to operate and maintain the carriageway, along with its tunnel and bridge components, for a period of 10 years after the completion of construction.
The DCOM project model, which would have been the first of its kind in the Sultanate — and perhaps in the wider Gulf region — had it gone ahead, will now make way for a straightforward construction contract tendered out via the ministry or the Government Tender Board, say experts.
The alternative alignment being weighed by the ministry is expected to broadly track the existing graded road currently connecting Diba, Lima and Khasab, albeit with significant design enhancements to streamline the route, bypass steep gradients and sharp curves, and skirt any intersecting wadis.
Additionally, this alignment will also ensure that a number of the governorate’s scenic villages and potential tourist attractions fall within the proximity of the new carriageway project, thus opening up these promising hotspots to new investment and development.
Given its mix of stunning natural attractions, majestic mountains, scenic fjords and coastal settings, the governorate is endowed with the trappings of a promising destination for nature and adventure tourism. Dolphin watching, whale spotting and other water-based activities add to this potential — features that will help pull in new tourist traffic once the Diba-Lima-Khasab project is operational.
CONRAD PRABHU
@conradprabhu
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