BD-led jt venture firm picked up for 3rd Shitalakhya bridge

The government has finally appointed a Bangladesh-led joint venture firm as supervision consultant for the 3rd Shitalakhya bridge project,  under which a 1.2 kilometre (km) bridge will be constructed for establishing links with three national highways of the country.

The Tk 3.7 billion bridge project has been delayed over the years due to complications in selecting a consultant as its Saudi financier refrained from giving concurrence to the selection of five firms by the project's implementing agency in December, 2011.

Officials said SARM Associates Ltd of Bangladesh has been selected as the lead firm of the bridge project which will have two partners --- Omar Munshi Associates of Pakistan and AL Mahan DIS NK Consulting Engineers of Saudi Arabia.

Due to the objection by the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD), the Roads and Highways Department called fresh expression of interest (EoI) last year and selected the joint venture firm, they added.

The contract signing ceremony was held at the conference room of the ministry of communications Sunday. The communications minister witnessed the ceremony.

Chief Engineer of Roads and Highways Department Mohammad Aminur Rahman Laskar and Managing Director of SARM Associates HM Abdul Matin signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.

The communications minister said after completion, the bridge would connect Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Sylhet and Dhaka-Mawa-Khulna highways and would play a significant role in easing traffic pressure on Dhaka and Narayanganj cities.

Road Secretary MAN Siddique and project director Firoz Iqbal were present, among others, on the occasion.

The 3rd Shitalakhya bridge will be a four-lane one with 2.13 km approach roads on both ends. Of the total funds, the SFD will provide Tk 3.11 billion, while the rest will be borne by the government.

At the initial phase, the project was supposed to be completed by 2013, but it could not be done due to the complications over consultant selection.

The RHD officials said as per the agreement between the government and SFD, the supervision consultant is to select the contractor which will carry out both design and construction work of the bridge.