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Dhaka-Ctg Highway

Govt to build 3 new bridges

M Abul Kalam Azad
The government will construct three new bridges on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, as the existing Kanchpur, Meghna and Meghna-Gumti bridges have become risky for vehicular movement.
All the three bridges, to be constructed parallel to the old ones, will have four lanes. The construction, which may begin next year, will take around two and a half years to complete.
Japan will provide the estimated cost of Tk 5,000 crore as soft loan. The existing bridges will also be maintained with the loan, said communications ministryofficials.
The existing bridges have two lanes and cannot handle the heavy traffic flow on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, considered to be the country's economic lifeline. Constructed in the mid 1980s by Japan, the old bridges have become so vulnerable that they are to be repaired soon. The government has taken up a plan to this effect. It goes underway on September 1.
For the new bridges, a team of experts from Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) is now conducting a survey at the existing bridge sites and their surroundings.
They will come up with a final report in December.
“We expect to complete the loan negotiation process with Japan by March next year, following which we will float tenders for the construction of the bridges," said Aminur Rahman Laskar, chief engineer of Roads and Highways Department (RHD).
He said construction of
the new bridges would take around two and a half years. “We will complete all the formalities fast so that we can start the construction work in mid 2013,” he told The Daily Star.
REPAIRS OF BRIDGES
The poor condition of the existing bridges is the result of serious damage to the decks and riverbed scouring around many piers.
Negligence in maintenance and continuous plying of overloaded vehicles has caused the damage to the decks of the bridges. The bridges had no weight measuring machines for years until recently. The machines now are allegedly not operational in most times.
The government has initiated a Tk 150-crore-project to repair the three risky bridges. The Bangladesh army will do the job.
The ministry officials said the repair work of the existing bridges would be done — on a temporary basis — between September 1 and September?.
Vehicular movement on the bridges will remain
suspended for six hours from midnight every day during the repairs when ferries and boats will carry vehicles and passengers.
The RHD chief said extensive repair work would begin in December after the select innofa nrivate firm.