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Thirteen of the 15 ramps on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway will open to traffic on Sunday, as its airport-Farmgate section is set to be inaugurated on Saturday.
Two ramps at Banani and Mohakhali will remain closed since their construction is still in progress, according to Project Director Md Shakhawat Aktar, reports bdnews24.com.
A 12-km section of the expressway linking Shahjalal International Airport (Kawla) to Tejgaon is complete and set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sept 2. It will open to the general public on Sept 3.
This section of the expressway is 22.5 kilometres long, including the 11.5-kilometre main route and 15 ramps.
From Tejgaon to Mohakhali, a smoothly paved ramp descends near the Metropolitan Medical Centre Limited, where workers are still busy.
Descending through this ramp from the expressway will provide easy access to Mohakhali, Amtali, Gulshan-1, and Jahangir Gate.
On the route from Kawla to Farmgate, there are 15 ramps, with two at the airport, three in Kuril, four in Banani, three in Mohakhali, two in Bijoy Sarani, and one in Farmgate.
The length of the expressway’s main route will be 19.73 kilometres, once completed.
It will connect the airport with Kutubkhali near the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway via Banani, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Kamalapur, Sayedabad, and Jatrabari.
The estimated budget for this project is Tk 89.4 billion, with the Bangladesh government providing Tk 24.13 billion of the funding.
The plan is divided into three stages:
– Phase one covers 7.45 km from Kawla to Banani Railway Station.
– Phase two spans 5.85 km from Banani Railway Station to Moghbazar level-crossing.
– Phase three encompasses the remaining section from Moghbazar to Kutubkhali.
The project has finished constructing 1,482 piles, 326 pile caps, 325 columns, 325 cross-beams, 3,048 I-girders, and installed 328 bridge decks.
The project was initially scheduled from July 2011 to December 2014, with a main project cost estimated at nearly Tk 32.17 billion. However, it was extended until December 2016, keeping the project cost unchanged.
As the project's scopes and expenses grew, its cost was adjusted to Tk 48.89 billion in the first amendment, and the completion deadline was pushed to December 2020.
The authorities expected the project to be completed by June 2023 after making additional adjustments, including extending the timeline and increasing the budget.
The project director said that the last-minute work on the section set to open on Saturday is complete, and it will be open to traffic from 6 am on Sunday.
“We're now just waiting for the inauguration.