The flyover, first of its kind in the country, was inaugurated last November with only 21 of the 42 STUs installed leaving it vulnerable to a possible tremor.

The construction of the flyover began on December 6, 2001 and was scheduled to finish by June 2004. But that deadline was extended to September for installing the STUs which are supposed to protect the flyover from earthquake impact. However, the completion date was again shifted to November 4 as the authorities failed to install all the 42 STUs on time.

"At present the remaining 21 STUs are being tested in Chicago," said a high official of RHD. He said that the STUs would arrive as soon as the testing was over and would be installed by the end of May.

In January this year, the World Bank (WB) expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in installation of the remaining STUs. Sources informed that in a letter sent to the RHD on January 15, the WB said the delay in supply and installation of STUs was unacceptable.

The Dhaka Transport Co-ordination Board (DTCB) officials in November had attributed the delay to a dispute between the authorities concerned and the contractor.

The contractor apparently wanted to install Chinese-made cheaper STUs instead of the US-made ones.

But the flyover's authorities refused to permit that and insisted on US-made STUs which were costlier than the Chinese equipment.

According to the contract conditions of the World Bank, STUs have to be tested at an independent laboratory before they are installed. But it reportedly found the contractor's proposal to have the remaining 21 STUs shipped from the USA to China for testing 'unacceptable'.

Senior officials of the RHD have admitted the WB's displeasure but claimed it was nothing serious.

"It would have cost less if the remaining STUs were tested in China. But now they (the contractor) are getting them tested in the US according to the wish of the WB. Besides, we do not want to upset the WB," said one official.