Bridges and Highways in Bangladesh

[Dhakaiya]

Originally Posted by HereWeGo

Mistake accepted .......

Cheer up dude...don need to sound constipated....

Welcome to the forums.

[nayeem007]

Padma Bridge construction to begin next year

A Correspondent, GopalganjCommunications Minister Syed Abul Hossain yesterday said construction work of the Padma Bridge would begin next year to establish a direct road link between the south-western region and other parts of the country.

The design and other works of the bridge would be completed this year, he said, adding that the construction would be completed by 2013.

The four-lane bridge will have rail link and gas pipelines.

The minister was speaking as the chief guest at the inauguration of zonal office of Gopalganj Road Division.

He directed the newly formed office of the road division to prepare Tk 1,000 to Tk 2,000 crore projects for the development of the region by June.

The minister said the government aims at restoring the process of economic development in the region by implementing different stalled projects, including Patgati Bridge and Poisar Hat Road.

He said for the development of tourism industry, four-lane Faridpur-Kuakata Road and four big bridges would be constructed, adding that the government has a plan to link Bogra to Bhatiapara-Benapole-Khulna-Mongla with Asian Highway.

Abul Hossain said a balanced development in the communications sector throughout the country would be ensured.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesig....php?nid=82829

[amar11372]

New Dhaka-khulna Expressway [U/C]

by Faisal.Shanto

[amar11372]

[amar11372]

What do you guys think of the quality of the expressway?

[Manazir]

hmm the quality: its not that bad......only if the road in each side was a bit wider and equipped with traffic signs, and streetlamps......it wouldve been better

[tanzirian]

Pretty good...I don't see any reflective materials on the ground which might be a problem for night driving...and a shoulder would be nice, though in our country the danger would be that this might get used as an extra lane by some.

[amar11372]

Yeah they could put those dividers in the middle and trim the grass to make it look nicer. Nevertheless this is a big improvement than those 80's 2-lane highway. A similar Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Chittagong expressway are coming up soon. Though, I am surprise the Govt is building Dhaka-Khulna Expressway earlier than Dhaka-Chittagong expressway.

[tislam84]

It looks much better than the other highways of Bangladesh. At least you don't have to move to the opposite lane to overtake a vehicle. Shoulders would be nice, but I guess the trees are doing that work.....

[nayeem007]

This highway will be very beneficial once Padma Bridge is completed and there is direct road access between Dhaka and Mongla port..

[samaruf]

Impatience.
I was amazed watching this bus in front of our vehicle trying to pass a truck on a two lane bridge. I wonder if any ever just toppled into the river by breaking the guard rails.

[tanzirian]

Yup it's still the Wild West on our highways but that will hopefully change as we develop. In the mean time though all our highways or bridges need a median or central divider...like the one in Amar's post above. Though in that case sometimes I wonder if a little grass will be sufficient deterrent...maybe it would have helped to be elevated...

[nayeem007]

Dhaka-Ctg road projects in limbo
Loopholes in tender process, lack of coordination hold back 2 crucial initiatives
M Abul Kalam AzadTwo projects aiming to improve communications between Dhaka and Chittagong, the most vital road link for the country's economic growth, get entangled in loopholes in floating tenders and lack of coordination among the authorities concerned.

The projects -- upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway into a four-lane road and constructing a second Dhaka-Chittagong highway -- were initiated four years ago. But no headway could be made although the busiest yet narrow highway continues causing human casualties and economic loss every year.

The four-lane project aimed at upgrading the existing highway has been cancelled twice due to loopholes in the tender process and lack of coordination between the communications ministry and the Roads and Highway Department (RHD).

Although the present government took a fresh move for the four-lane project and floated a pre-qualification tender on June 11, the project file of the second highway is gathering dust for three years.

No-one at the two offices can say anything about this project.

Experts say increasing number of traffic on the highway would cause more accidents, leaving more casualties as implementation of the projects may take years.

"The average daily traffic on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway is now 15,277 vehicles, while it was 13,720 last year," AKM Fazlul Karim, an executive engineer of the RHD database division told The Daily Star.

The second highway project is more or less buried as the government despite floating an international tender in 2006 failed to find a firm. Only one company, Malaysia-based construction firm Azimat Consortium, bid for it.

But the government as per rules cannot select a firm that alone bid for such projects.

RHD Executive Engineer Md Sabbir Hasan Khan is hopeful about the four-lane project. "The last date for submission of bid is August 11. We hope a number of qualified firms will come forward from which we can select one," he told The Daily Star.

The four-lane dual carriageway spanning 215 kilometres from Dhaka to Chittagong will be constructed on a build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis.

The estimated cost for this project will go up by several hundred crores taka following twice cancellation of the tender. The estimated cost will be as high as Tk 2,400 crore compared to the previous estimated cost of Tk 2,168 crore, officials say.

Azimat Consortium proposed it would take five years to complete construction of the second highway. After operating for 30 years and recovering the investment through toll, the expressway will be handed over to the government, the proposal says.

The RHD sources say if the second highway is constructed, it will be the first expressway in the country with facilities like adequate parking space, refuelling stations, food courts and rest houses at regular intervals.

This expressway would cut the journey time between the two major cities to three hours from existing seven to eight hours. It would also help improve the economic corridor between the capital and the port city.

"The second highway will not only ensure safe journey in a smooth traffic environment but also cut operation costs saving fuel. The proposed highway would also provide higher level of service with uninterrupted traffic flow," says an RHD official.

A three-route option has been kept open from which one would be selected for the highway.

The first one runs parallel to the existing highway, while the second route starts from Jatrabari towards Narayanganj and then moves to the south to cross the Dhaleshwari river, Munshiganj, the Meghna and finally reaches Chittagong through Chandpur and Noakhali.

The third probable route begins from Jatrabari to reach Chittagong by crossing Laksham and Feni and will be the shortest and most direct one.

The country's busiest highway linking the prime port city and the capital has become a death trap due to its narrowness. Traffic cannot move uninterrupted on it which causes extra fuel consumption and eats up valuable time of the passengers.

Communications Minister Syed Abdul Hossain said upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway is one of the priority projects of his ministry.

"I hope there will be no trouble regarding tender of the project,"

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesig...php?nid=100194

[samaruf]

I was going to post it, but glad you did it. It goes to show big name projects can be splashed in the papers but that's all. The actual completion is done 10-20 years later. I doubt we will see this major expressway done anytime soon.

It beats me what can be so complicated that a project of this magnitude hangs in limbo for so many years.

On a side note, it would be cool if some deshi company wrote a mapping software for Bangladesh that can be used in GPS devices. I mean we have the manpower to send a bunch of people all over Dhaka to map the existing roads and alleys and enter them into a database. From then on, just use coordinates to pinpoint the location on the GPS.

[nayeem007]

Originally Posted by samaruf

On a side note, it would be cool if some deshi company wrote a mapping software for Bangladesh that can be used in GPS devices. I mean we have the manpower to send a bunch of people all over Dhaka to map the existing roads and alleys and enter them into a database. From then on, just use coordinates to pinpoint the location on the GPS.

This is already being done, there was a report in Dailystar on it a year back.. infact one of my friend was working with the mapping team to provide GPS service to courier services like DHL, Fedex back home. Don't know the status now..

[amar11372]

Originally Posted by nayeem007

This is already being done, there was a report in Dailystar on it a year back.. infact one of my friend was working with the mapping team to provide GPS service to courier services like DHL, Fedex back home. Don't know the status now..

You could just use Google map with a GPS receiver.

[nayeem007]

Originally Posted by amar11372

You could just use Google map with a GPS receiver.

Google map just covers Dhaka city, it doesn't have detailed road map of other districts like Narsingdi,Sylhet etc. Also if you are using google map for commercial purposes you need to get licensing. From what I remember,my friend was actually working through google representative in India and GPS system provider in HK in this regard...but no idea if the project ever materialized or not.

[samaruf]

On my trips to Feni/Noakhali, I noticed huge trees that line up on two sides of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. They are pretty to look at, but every year I hear of crashes whereby the inexperienced driver loses control and slams into one of these trees at full speed leading to numerous deaths. I wonder what is the purpose of planting hardwood trees so close to the road. Don't the road engineers realize it's a big hazard to life and property?

I can see big trees on either side of the Khulna expressway photo.

[TIslam]

Originally Posted by Manazir

hmm the quality: its not that bad......only if the road in each side was a bit wider and equipped with traffic signs, and streetlamps......it wouldve been better

To me they appear reasonably wide. Street lamps aren't essential. While it may be a given in the ME, not so in the US. Majority of the freeways aren't lit. Street lamps are placed where necessary such as major interchanges, near city limits, hazard areas (like steep curves, etc.). Markers and signage (traffic signs) are of course helpful and therefore, needed.

[TIslam]

Originally Posted by nayeem007

Google map just covers Dhaka city, it doesn't have detailed road map of other districts like Narsingdi,Sylhet etc. Also if you are using google map for commercial purposes you need to get licensing. From what I remember,my friend was actually working through google representative in India and GPS system provider in HK in this regard...but no idea if the project ever materialized or not.

I came across some forum that pertains to GPS mapping and it appeared that they are great number of programmer type GPS mapping enthusiasts and they are coming up with (GPS) maps for various cities across the globe. Didn't any Bangladesh represented. It would be great if there were some volunteers.