Tender floated to build 3 bridges
The government yesterday floated an international tender for building three four-lane bridges alongside the existing two-lane bridges of Kanchpur, Meghna and Gumti on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.
The old bridges, which are not in good shape, would also be rehabilitated, according to the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) officials.
Approximately Tk 8,400 crore would be spent on the project. Of the amount, Japan would provide around Tk 6,400 crore as soft loan while the government would bear the rest, they said.
The construction of the new bridges has become essential as the existing ones have two lanes and cannot handle the heavy traffic flow on the highway, considered to be the country's economic lifeline.
RHD officials said designs of the new bridges had been finalised.
On March 10 last year, Bangladesh and Japan signed a deal with the target of starting the construction of the bridges by the end of this year and completing the work in three years.
“We hope to open the new bridges for the public by the end of 2018,” a RHD engineer told The Daily Star yesterday.
He said the rehabilitation work of the old bridges would begin after the construction of the new ones.
Briefing reporters at the secretariat yesterday, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said travelling on the Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet highways would be smoother after the opening of the new bridges.
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