Work on the new Jamrat bridge expansion project designed to serve four million pilgrims will start in February, according to Dr. Habib Mustafa Zain Al-Abidine, deputy minister of municipal and rural affairs. "The ministry has completed studies on the project's architectural designs and it will be implemented in four phases within five years," Al-Riyadh Arabic daily quoted Zain Al-Abidine as saying. The project in the holy site of Mina aims at facilitating the stoning ritual during Hajj and easing the movement of pilgrims in the tent city. It will increase the capacity of the Jamrat site to 500,000 pilgrims per hour. The deputy minister said he was unable to give an estimate of the project's total cost as it will depend on the offers of companies vying to win the contract. "We have already called for tenders to implement the project," he added. As per the plan, the new Jamrat bridge will have four floors and the pillars holding the bridge will be established on its edge to allow free and uninterrupted movement of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. The ground floor will have three tunnels - Souk Al-Arab tunnel, Jowhara tunnel and King Faisal tunnel. "Every floor will have its own entrances and exits without clashing with those of other floors," the deputy minister said. --MORE 1052 Local Time 0752 GMT
