Google News - Acting on endorsements and pledges of land from the president of Yemen and the president of the African nation of Djibouti, a Dubai-based developer has tapped an American firm to build a bridge across the Red Sea.
Middle East Development LLC on April 25 issued a notice-to-proceed to Noor City Development Corp., Boulder, Colo. It authorizes Noor City, as sole agent, "to proceed with the planning, development, construction and management of the bridge between Yemen and Djibouti."
The newly formed Noor City Development Corp. is led by Tariq E. Ayyad, president. Ayyad is also president of ShareChive LLC, San Francisco, a technology firm with patented systems for delivering constantly refreshed project data to mobile computers on jobsites, with an emphasis on highway and large infrastructure. Ayyad is an American of Kuwaiti extraction, a civil engineer, construction manager and a former bridge engineer with the California Dept. of Transportation.
Ayyad says MED's goal is to create economic opportunity and stability on both sides of the Red Sea by tying in the bridge to new rail and road construction hubs and networks in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.
"MED is a developer. They want to create jobs, they want to move products," Ayyad says. "It is very, very critical to connect the African nations and their products and crops right to the Middle East. The Middle East is extremely wealthy in money and oil, but we lack quite a lot of crops and services."
Noor City is forming an international commission to refine concepts for a design/build/operate/transfer concession to create the rail and highway crossing. Concepts developed by Danish engineering firm COWI envision a 23-mile crossing with a suspension span over the Bab al Mendab Straits.
Phase I will likely be a 4.8-mile leap to the Yemeni island of Perim. Phase II may be broken into several contracts for the 18.35-mile transit to Djibouti. Cost is estimated at between $10 billion and $20 billion, depending on design, project organization and financing. Construction would take 7 to 9 years.
"If you open up to this [transportation system that provides access into the heart of Africa] then you can create jobs by moving products, moving services," Ayyad says. "You can ignite economic development just by the transportation element. The bridge is really critical."
The United Arab Emirates acknowledged on Tuesday that two of its pilots were killed when their military aggression plane crashed over Jawf province, a military official said
The official added that the aggressive crashed plane was an apache that was
Artillery of the army and popular shelled a gathering of Saudi-paid mercenaries in al-Moqadra area in Serwah district of Marib province, a military official said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, dozens of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed and others injured in Wadi al-Theek in the district, the official added.
The army and popular forces carried out on Monday unique military operations in Taiz province.
A military official said that a number of Saudi-paid mercenaries were killed at the hands of the army and popular forces in al-Jazami Hill in al-Kadaha area in al-Ma'afer district.
A Saudi aggression fighter jet targeted a citizen's car driving in Fara area of Kutaf district in Saada province overnight, killing the driver and injuring his friend, a security official said on Monday.
The army artillery and popular committees launched a fierce attack on Saudi-paid mercenaries' sites in Jawf province, a military official said on Monday.
The attack destroyed a military vehicle belonging to the mercenaries and killed all on board in Sabran area in khab and shaaf district.
Scores of Saudi enemy soldiers were killed and injured on Sunday when the army and popular forces repelled a Saudi military attempt to sneak into Shurfah site in the border province of Najran, a military official said.
The operation was accomplished successfully against the Saudi
The army and popular committees have killed a total of 18 Saudi-paid mercenaries in sniper operations over the past hours in the central province of Marib, a military official said on Sunday.
Ten mercenaries were killed in Nehm district and eight others were killed in Serwah district, said the official.
Saudi aggression warplanes have launched more than 49 airstrikes over the past hours on several residential areas across Yemen, a security official said on Sunday.
The airstrikes targeted the areas of Malahiz and Husama in Dhahir district, and areas Thuban, Masahif and Sdad in Bakim district of northern Saada province.
Notice-to-Proceed Launches Ambitious Red Sea Crossing
