More than 5,000 workers are involved in the construction of a new high-tech Jamrat Bridge in Mina, which will be completed in three years, according to Habeeb Zainul Abideen, Deputy Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs. He said work on the new bridge, which is designed to hold more than three million pilgrims in peak hours, would start soon after removing the debris of the old bridge, which is being demolished. Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul-aziz has sanctioned the project to avoid stampedes. A national company, which won the contract, has set up a large factory in Bahra, near Jeddah, to manufacture pre-cast concrete blocs required for the project. Zainul Abideen said the launch of the project soon after the Hajj has nothing to do with the stampede in Jamrat this year. "The project was approved by authorities in the middle of last year," he said. --MORE 10 58 Local Time 07 58 GMT
