Dhaka-Cox's Bazar railway route
Kalurghat Bridge repair may start this month
Nazimuddin Shyamol | Saturday, 8 July 2023
CHATTOGRAM, July 07: Bangladesh Railway (BR) is likely to start renovation work of the old Kalurghat Bridge over the Karnaphuli this month.
BR has taken initiative to renovate the century-old bridge again to facilitate train service on Dhaka-Cox's Bazar route, scheduled to be launched in September.
Md Jahangir Hossain, General Manager (GM) of BR Eastern Zone, said it is necessary to repair the bridge for train movement on the route.
BR will increase load capacity of the old bridge first. It will be done before September, and the rest of the work will be completed within next six months.
Meanwhile, two ferries will be operated on the river as an alternative to the bridge during the repair work. The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) will introduce the ferry service. Heavy vehicles will move through the ferries, while train and small vehicles will use the old bridge.
Sources said without the renovation work, train movement on the newly constructed rail-line to Cox's Bazar through the existing railway bridge at Kalurghat is risky. After renovation of the bridge, trains can be run to Cox's Bazar from Chattogram and Dhaka.
Earlier, an agreement was signed with Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in September 2022 for conducting a feasibility study to enhance capacity of the bridge.
During an assessment, carried out by a BUET consultant team, eight of the 19 main spans of the bridge were found in severely battered condition. The 239-metre-long dual-purpose bridge, built in 1930, has become unfit for both train and road traffic.
The government previously decided to build a two-tier road-cum-rail bridge across the Karnaphuli, similar to the Padma Bridge, which will take seven years to complete.
However, movement of broad-gauge train on Dhaka-Cox's Bazar rail-line has become uncertain due to delay in construction of the third Karnaphuli Bridge at Kalurghat.
The construction work of the new Kalurghat Bridge is likely to begin in 2024. The work will end by 2030.
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