Appointment of consultant by Dec this year

Bangladesh Railway (BR) is set to appoint a consultant for the construction of new rail-cum-road bridge over the River Karnaphuli in Kalurghat by December this year.

According to sources, five foreign firms have already been shortlisted for this appointment, while one of them will be picked for the project in the end. The new bridge will replace the old rundown bridge in Kalurghat. The BR will implement the project titled 'Construction of Railway cum Road Bridge across the River Karnaphuli at Kalurghat Point'.

Project Director (PD) Abul Kalam Chowdhury said that the appointment of a contractor for the project would be finalised by the middle of next year.

On January 19, the BR invited tenders for the appointment of a consultant. The deadline for bid submission was March 3 which was later extended to March 17. On the final day, a total of eight tenders were submitted, while BR selected five of them. The authorities have asked them to submit financial and technical offer.

Chief Adviser of the interim government Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus laid the foundation stone of the new project on May 14. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on October 7 last year approved the Tk 115.61 billion project.

Of the total project cost, Tk 44.36 billion will come from the government, while the remaining Tk 71.25 billion will be financed by the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) and Economic Development Promotion Facility (EDPF), Korea.

The new bridge will be constructed 70 metres upstream of the existing Kalurghat bridge, with its alignment running from Janali Hat to Gomdandi Railway Station. The Roads and Highways Department will be responsible for building the approach roads connecting to the bridge.

Earlier, appointed Korean Consultant Yooshin Engineering Corporation completed the DPP and submitted the feasibility study report to the BR.

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