Temporary repair starts

Temporary renovation of Meghna bridge is being carried out under the supervision of Bangladesh Army around 5:00am yesterday. Because of the work, traffic operation on the bridge will remain suspended for seven hours from 11:00pm every day till September 7. Photo: Anisur Rahman

Temporary repair works on Meghna and Meghna-Gumti bridges, two key bridges on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, began in the early hours yesterday to keep the structures fit for traffic movement for three months.
Officials said Malaysian Hercules Engineering, selected to do the repairs under a Tk 150 crore project, and Bangladesh Army will begin the long term repair works at the end of this year.
The six-hour repairs, during which traffic movement is off-limit on these sections of the highway, begin at midnight everyday and will continue till September 7.
Steel plates were being placed between the damaged expansion joints on the top part of the bridges and while the damaged hinge bearings underneath were being replaced as the damages have turned traffic movement risky.
The officials said Meghna bridge will be repaired in three nights while Meghna-Gumti in four nights.
On the first night's effort, the Malaysian firm fixed only two out of nine badly damaged expansion joints of Meghna bridge. Two more nights are needed to fix the remaining expansion joints.
During a visit to the Meghna bridge on the early hours of Sunday, the workers were seen struggling to keep the pace due to inadequate light and power outlets both on and beneath the bridge.
The first night's repair works were also hampered due to a visit by acting communications secretary MAN Siddique, Roads and Highways Department Chief Engineer Aminur Rahman Laskar and some other officials.
Many of them brought their vehicles which obstructed the repair works.
Placing of wrong steel plates on the wrong expansion joints also delayed the repairs.
The Malaysian technicians and their local staff mistakenly placed smaller plates on an expansion joint. The plates were removed when an army officer detected the mistake. In the meantime nearly two hours had gone by.
Bangladesh Army, which was given the responsibility to do the repair job in June, is assisting the Malaysian technicians.
The authorities concerned are stopping vehicles coming from Dhaka at Kanchpur bridge at 11:00pm and diverting those toward Narsingdi while stopping those from Chittagong at Mainamoti and diverted those toward Brahmanbaria.
This means that traffic movement from Kanchpur bridge to Mainamoti remains suspended for seven hours.
The government has arranged an alternative route to divert around 30,000 vehicles plying the highway each day.
The detour for the Dhaka-Chittagong traffic is Dhaka-Bhairab-Brahmanbaria-Moinamati-Chittagong.