About 61 per cent of the work has been completed on the Dh2-billion ($544 million) Dubai Water Canal, which links the Business Bay with the Arabian Gulf in a 3-km route passing through the heart of the UAE emirate, said a report.

The project, which boasts a new shopping centre, four hotels and 450 restaurants as well as luxury housing and cycling paths, is being developed by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) along with Dubai real estate groups Meydan City Corporation and Meraas.

About 52 per cent of the excavation works at the canal has been completed, while the drilling works will be over by the end of this September, said Emirati news agency Wam. Construction work has been completed on the northern bridge on Sheikh Zayed Road in the direction from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. The bridge, which extends 1 km, comprises eight lanes, said the report.

The construction works for the southern bridge in the direction from Dubai to Abu Dhabi will start soon, Wam added.

Mattar Al Tayer, the director general and chairman of the RTA board, said the entire construction work will be completed by August next year.

Already, the work on the bridges at Al Wasl and Jumeirah roads is nearing completion and the bridges are expected to be opened by the end of July this year, said the report.

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, while on a recent tour of the project, reviewed the designs and models of three pedestrian bridges to be constructed on the canal, along with the design options for a walkway, running track, patios featuring interactive screens, sitting areas overlooking the canal, state-of-the-art innovative lighting, and landscaping works.

Sheikh Mohammed also reviewed the designs of lighting poles which can be controlled via a smart app.

A total of 37 lighting poles have been installed along the northern bridge on Sheikh Zayed Road extending 899 m, along with lighting fixtures on the 271-m footpath.