The Ministry of Transport and Communications has floated the tender for the remaining packages of the Adam-Thamrait dualisation project. The completion of the dualisation road project is important as it is the main link between Muscat and Salalah. Through the Tender Board, the ministry has invited the bids for the nearly 400-km stretch that will start from Haima in Al Wusta and end at Thamrait in Dhofar.
According to reports, of the 317 km packages one and two of the project, construction has been completed on 41 km. Tenders have been floated for the remaining 399.7 km of which the third package will be between Haima and Maqshan.
The stretch will include 16 flyovers, two truck weighing stations, five rest stops, police parking spots and emergency exits among others. The fourth package will cover Maqshan and Dowka, while the fifth package will cover Dowka and Thamrait. Over the past years, the Adam-Thamrait road had attained notoriety for accidents involving private vehicles and even public transport buses. “Due to the single carriageway, collisions are natural if drivers on either side lose control of their vehicle due to fatigue or speeding. With the completion of the dual carriage project, collisions can be minimised if not totally eliminated,” said Muscat manager of a private transport company.
Not only travellers form Oman, several foreign tourists including the GCC nationals and residents use road to Salalah during Khareef season.
It may be noted that nearly 79.5 per cent of 826,376 tourists to Salalah during Khareef 2018 travelled by road. The ministry, in a statement, said, “Dualisation of the entire stretch from Adam to Thamrait has been given top priority with all packages now floated to invite bids.” The ministry said utmost care will be taken while analysing tenders to choose the technically and financially sound companies, and added that projects of such scale generally require at least three years for completion.
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