2nd Teesta Bridge to open on Aug 20; Dhaka-Kurigram route to shrink by 135km
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The long-anticipated second Teesta Bridge is set to open on Aug 20, bringing a major boost to road connectivity between Gaibandha and Kurigram and reducing the distance on the Dhaka-Kurigram route by 135 kilometres.
The inauguration will be led by Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, advisor to the local government and youth ministries, Gaibandha LGED Executive Engineer Ujjal Chowdhury was quoted as saying in a notice signed by the ministry’s deputy secretary Mohammad Shamim Bepari on Monday.
Vehicles and pedestrians will be allowed to use the bridge from the day of opening.
With financing from the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), the 1,490m long, 9.6m wide PC girder bridge cost Tk 9.25 billion to build.
China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) served as the main contractor, while river training was carried out on 3.5km of both banks.
The bridge was constructed at Haripurghat in Sundarganj Upazila, about 28km from Gaibandha town, linking to Chilmarighat in Kurigram.
Authorities also built 86km of paved connecting roads, stretching through Kurigram’s Chilmari, Sundarganj’s Haripur, Belkabazar, Panchpir, Dharmapur, Gaibandha’s Hat Laxmipur, and Sadullapur, before joining the Dhaka-Rangpur Highway at Dhaperhat.
Once opened, the bridge and its link roads will shorten the Dhaka-Kurigram travel time by three to three-and-a-half hours, easing travel for several other northern districts.
LGED officers say it will also spur socioeconomic development in the relatively underdeveloped Gaibandha and Kurigram districts.
The project was first approved in 2014, with the foundation stone laid on Jan 25 that year. Tenders were floated in November 2018, and construction began in 2021 by a Chinese contractor.
On Jul 4 this year, Local Government Division Secretary Md Rezaul Maksud Jahedi inspected the nearly completed site.
The opening was initially scheduled for Aug 2, and later shifted to Aug 25. Authorities have now advanced the date to Aug 20.