Professor Shamim Z Basunia, chairman of the Panel of Experts (POE) of the Karnaphuli tunnel project, termed the infrastructure as one of the quality pieces of infrastructure.
He said the project implementation was smooth compared to the trend of other projects due to performance by all concerned.
"Many problems cropped up during the construction period and those could be resolved with timely and constant monitoring by the Chinese company and Chattogram project office", Dr Basunia told the FE in a telephonic interview on the eve of the inaugural day of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel.
The BUET professor became chairman after the death of Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury in 2020. Since then, the civil engineer and structural expert contributed to troubleshooting in the construction.
He said all the PoE members were engaged in the project to see the progress in every two months. Except one, a national of Denmark, all others of the PoE were Bangladeshis and expatriate Bangladeshis having experiences of working on tunnels abroad.
Quality was ensured with constant monitoring of every purchase of equipment, the PoE chief said they did not compromise on the quality.
The project's most difficult part was establishing three cross connections between the two tubes, according to the chairman.
All challenges were overcome timely forworking efficiently by all, he told the FE.
Dr Basunia said the tunnel construction project implementation was more or less smooth compared to other development projects.
He said the tunnel also set an example of completing a project without facing major problems.
An expert in structural engineering, the PoE chairman believed the project experience would develop capacity of the local experts.
The experience of TBM for boring work would be helpful for local technical people to play a role in other tunnel projects.
As a walking underpass was going to be constructed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the
tunnel experience would be helpful in this connection, he said.
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