Safety restored at NBL tower construction site

Three-fourths of the collapsed foundation pit of the under-construction 12-storey National Bank Limited Twin Tower in the capital has been filled with sand so far with the south-western corner still hollow bordering Sundarban Hotel and Monem Business District.

Shafiul Hannan, authorised officer of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), said the sand-filling of the pit for building four basement floors would be completed by tomorrow.

"The fear of any further disaster is over because the stability of neighbouring Sundarban Hotel, which became vulnerable after failure of the foundation shore protection system, is restored," he said.               

However, Prof Syed Fakhrul Ameen, the lead supervisory engineer for restoration of safety at the construction site, refused to comment readily on the situation.   

Asked whether stability of the six-storey Sundarban Hotel is restored, he said, "Haven't you gone to the site?"   

During a visit yesterday afternoon, The Daily Star correspondent found most of the pit filled up except the south-western corner bordering the hotel and 14-storey Monem Business District. 

When told that his assessment as lead supervisory engineer was vital, Fakhrul Ameen said, "You come to my Buet office on Sunday, I will be available there to talk about it."

Pointed out that Sunday was still four 

days away, he said, "I don't want to talk about it over the phone." 

Earlier, when asked who the other two members were of the three-member probe committee he is heading to look into the incident, he said, "Go know it from Dhaka North City Corporation."     

The shore protection system of the 50-foot deep pit on CR Dutta road near Sonargaon hotel intersection collapsed on May 27 triggering fears that Sundarban Hotel might cave in too, as the hotel's foundation soil subsided following the collapse.

Later, all four sides of the pit subsided gradually over the next few days forcing the authorities to launch an all-out effort to fill the hole and shut the adjoining CR Dutta and Panthapath roads to traffic to prevent collapse of surrounding structures.

National Bank obtained Rajuk's approval in December 2013 for the 12-storey building comprised of two towers and three basement floors on a 64-katha plot and hired Korean architectural firm Heerim, Korean construction firm Donga, and local MS Construction.