Leighton’s Middle East subsidiary will be involved in the construction of a $US1.7 billion ($A1.87 billion) highway project in Qatar.

Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG), which is 45 per cent owned by Leighton, and joint venture partner Al Jaber Engineering have been awarded a contract to design and construct a new orbital highway and truck route near Doha, for Qatar’s public works authority.

The project involves 56 kilometres of road works and five main interchanges, to service a projected increase in traffic.

Design and construction works will take around 36 months to complete.

Leighton shares were down 34 cents, or 1.6 per cent, at $20.70 at 1140 AEDT.