Ball rolls for Tk 20b multi-lane tunnel under Karnaphuli river
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
Munima Sultana
The government has set the ball rolling for the ambitious Tk20 billion multi-lane project under the river Karnaphuli to boost road linkage between Chittagong port and the fast-booming resort town of Cox'a Bazar.
The authorities have invited bids for conducting feasibility study of the key project after they got assurance of funding from the Kuwait government, officials said Monday.
The move comes as the government launched diplomatic efforts with China to connect Chittagong with southern Chinese city of Kunming via Myanmar.
Experts said bulk of the goods and traffic coming from southern Bangladesh, Myanmar and China are expected to pass through the tunnel as the existing bridges over the Karnaphuli won't be able to handle the volume.
"We have finally kick-started the multi-lane project. There is now no uncertainty over the project," said Rafiqul Islam, chief engineer of Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), the project's executing agency,
"Bids have been invited to select firms for conducting feasibility of the project. Initial length of the proposed tunnel has been estimated at 2,000 metre," he said.
He said the study is expected to determine the length, location and alignment of the tunnel, its construction methodology, and duration of project.
Officials said the tunnel would be the first of its kind in the country and its construction has become essential due to soaring number of traffic between Dhaka and Cox's Bazar.
Road traffic to the beach towns of Cox's Bazar and Teknaf has been growing at over 15 per cent a year, exerting pressure on the existing bridges over the Karnaphuli.
A third bridge over the river has been built and will be opened to traffic within a couple of months. But experts said increasing traffic may soon clog up its narrow lanes within years.
Officials said the government has ditched the idea of building more bridges over the Karnaphauli, fearing that their spans and columns could harm smooth operation of the Chittagong Port, -- the country's economic lifeline located at the mouth of the river.
"Constructing multi-lane tunnel is the lone option to ensure better road communication between Chittagong and the Cox's Bazar. There is hardly any room for constructing another bridge over the Karnaphuli," said an official.
The government has set the ball rolling for the ambitious Tk20 billion multi-lane project under the river Karnaphuli to boost road linkage between Chittagong port and the fast-booming resort town of Cox'a Bazar.
The authorities have invited bids for conducting feasibility study of the key project after they got assurance of funding from the Kuwait government, officials said Monday.
The move comes as the government launched diplomatic efforts with China to connect Chittagong with southern Chinese city of Kunming via Myanmar.
Experts said bulk of the goods and traffic coming from southern Bangladesh, Myanmar and China are expected to pass through the tunnel as the existing bridges over the Karnaphuli won't be able to handle the volume.
"We have finally kick-started the multi-lane project. There is now no uncertainty over the project," said Rafiqul Islam, chief engineer of Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), the project's executing agency,
"Bids have been invited to select firms for conducting feasibility of the project. Initial length of the proposed tunnel has been estimated at 2,000 metre," he said.
He said the study is expected to determine the length, location and alignment of the tunnel, its construction methodology, and duration of project.
Officials said the tunnel would be the first of its kind in the country and its construction has become essential due to soaring number of traffic between Dhaka and Cox's Bazar.
Road traffic to the beach towns of Cox's Bazar and Teknaf has been growing at over 15 per cent a year, exerting pressure on the existing bridges over the Karnaphuli.
A third bridge over the river has been built and will be opened to traffic within a couple of months. But experts said increasing traffic may soon clog up its narrow lanes within years.
Officials said the government has ditched the idea of building more bridges over the Karnaphauli, fearing that their spans and columns could harm smooth operation of the Chittagong Port, -- the country's economic lifeline located at the mouth of the river.
"Constructing multi-lane tunnel is the lone option to ensure better road communication between Chittagong and the Cox's Bazar. There is hardly any room for constructing another bridge over the Karnaphuli," said an official.