A consultancy firm is to be hired to carry out a comprehensive review of the engineering designs of the much-delayed Bahrain-Qatar causeway.

The board of the Bahrain-Qatar Causeway Authority has decided to redesign the 40km strategic artery, thought to be the world’s longest man-made bridge, following a meeting on Wednesday.

In a statement to Bahrain News Agency, Aref Saleh Khamis, the authority’s vice-chairman and Finance Ministry Under-Secretary, said that the redesigned blueprints would be ready for when work on the project begins.

The Bahrain-Qatar Causeway Authority’s executive management was also tasked with drawing up a report on progress of work on the project and the multi-phased work plan.

Construction had been originally expected to begin in 2011, but press reports have suggested that the project, which would accommodate both car and rail traffic, had run into funding difficulties.

Earlier this year, Gulf Daily News reported that the link had been redesigned for the third time in the 12 years since the project was first mooted.

The causeway is now expected to be ready only shortly before the 2022 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted in Qatar, as the decision to start building must be approved by governments in both Qatar and Bahrain.