4-lane Dhaka-Ctg highway by 2013
The Dhaka-Chittagong highway will be developed into a four-lane one by June 2013 despite delay in procurement of soil from roadside lands, officials said.
The government signed agreements with one foreign and three local construction firms in January 2010 to widen the 192.30-kilometre highway, but complexity arose during Tk 2,382 crore project earthwork, as a new law bars collection of soil from roadside agricultural lands, cutting of hills, and filling up of low lying areas.
Now soil is being procured from the Meghna, Gumti and Matamuhuri rivers through dredging. Difficulties in appointment of consultant also delayed the work for a short period.
Jawed Alam, acting director of the project, told the news agency that the project divided into 10 roadwork packages and three bridgework packages would be completed by June 2013.
The highway will have a five-metre wide median with plantation, a number of bridges with a total length of 1137 metres, three railway overpasses, 33 steel foot over-bridges, and two underpasses, he said.
Jawed said earth-filling work is now going on along 80km of the highway, and 77 new culverts are being constructed apart from bypasses at 14 points.
Procurement of machinery and equipment has already been completed, and now stone-chips, bricks, and sands are being procured for patchwork, he added.
The official said three overpasses would be constructed in Comilla, Feni, and Chittagong under the project in addition to a number of over bridges and bus bays at different points.
China's Sinohydro Corporation Ltd was awarded the work of seven road packages as the lowest bidder while three other local construction firms are Reza Construction, Taher Brothers, and Al-Amin Joint Venture.
The present government took the project as a priority one as the existing two-lane road has become insufficient to deal with the present traffic volume.
Around 16,000 vehicles run every day on the highway carrying goods worth around Tk 4,000 crore annually, but about 400-600 people die every year in accidents, mostly head-on collisions.
A four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway, which is called the main economic lifeline of the country, would make the capital's communication with the port city easy, safe, and fast and contribute immensely to economic development.
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