RIYADH (VINnews)— A 564-kilometer highway carved through the world’s largest sand desert has become a critical alternative trade route for Gulf states amid escalating concerns over the Strait of Hormuz.

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The road, stretching from the Batha Haradh intersection in Saudi Arabia to the Omani border crossing, cost roughly $533 million to construct. Workers logged more than 3.3 million hours, operated 750 specialized machines and removed 150 million cubic meters of sand while dunes continued to shift beneath them. It opened in late 2021 with the goals of boosting trade and facilitating pilgrimage traffic, reducing what had been an 18-hour journey through the United Arab Emirates to about six hours.

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The conflict in the region has elevated the highway’s strategic value. In March, Dubai Customs and Oman launched a bonded corridor routing goods through Omani ports. Customs declarations surged from about 12,000 that month to nearly 100,000 in April. Sharjah followed with its own agreement in May.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has predicted the strait itself “would become just another body of water within two years.” Every kilometer of asphalt across the Empty Quarter represents a concrete wager that he is correct.