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Bangabandhu tunnel construction work to begin Sunday

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The main phase of construction work on the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel under the Karnaphuli River in Chattogram is to begin Sunday.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader announced that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will launch excavation work on the project at 11 am on Sunday, reports bdnews24.com.

“The excavation work will be conducted by TBM machines and the prime minister will inaugurate the work,” he said on Saturday.

The government has launched the tunnel project under the Karnaphali in the port city of Chattogram based on a ‘One City Two Towns’ model similar to China’s Shanghai. Approximately 32 percent of the work on the project has been completed.

Machinery has been brought in from China to construct the tunnel on the riverbed. A 15MW power sub-station has been set up in the project area to provide electricity for construction.

The 3.4km-long tunnel will be composed of two tubes and have four lanes for traffic. Approximately 5.35km of connecting roads will be built on either end of the tunnel.

The total cost of the tunnel is about $1.56 billion, or Tk 84.45 billion. China’s EXIM Bank will provide approximately Tk 47.99 billion of this amount.

The remaining Tk 36.47 billion is coming from the Bangladesh’s government’s coffers. The implementation of the project is under the purview of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges.

The tunnel will connect the Chattogram city airport area with Anowara Upazila. Once complete the tunnel will ease travel for tourists travelling from the city to Cox’s Bazar and southern Chattogram. The government also hopes it will reduce the traffic congestion on Chattogram’s two major bridges.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the construction of the tunnel was signed between Bangladesh and China in the presence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Jun 10, 2018.

The Bangladesh bridge authority, the China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) and Ove Arup and Partners Hong Kong Limited then conducted a joint technical and economic survey of the project. A commercial agreement was then signed on Jun 30, 2018 between the bridge authority and the CCCC.

The Bangladesh Navy will bear the responsibility of providing security to the tunnel project, Obaidul Quader said last week.

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