Chinese joint venture to rehabilitate first Jamuna Bridge

A Chinese joint-venture (JV) company has been assigned to rehabilitate Bangladesh's first longest bridge over the Jamuna River as railway tracks have been withdrawn from there.
The tracks were removed after constructing a dedicated railway bridge on the river last year.
The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) and CCCC-CRBC JV signed the contract under the Jamuna Bridge Deck Rehabilitation and Reopening of Abandoned Rail Lane initiative at a ceremony at Setu Bhaban in the capital on Wednesday.

Officials say the joint venture of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) has been assigned to carry out rehabilitation, widening, and capacity enhancement of the 4.8km bridge deck in the next 18 months.
The contract value is Tk 2.78 billion.
BBA Chief Engineer Kazi Md Ferdous and Wang Benqian of CCCC-CRBC JV inked the deal on behalf of their respective organisations.
Senior officials from the Bridges Division, BBA, and representatives of the joint venture attended the programme.
Ferdous said though the contract was signed for 18 months, the JV was requested to complete the main bridge widening work before the next Eid-ul-Fitr so that the entire roadway could be usable during the peak transportation season.
Under the contract, the Chinese companies would carry out various works apart from enhancing the bridge's usability, including widening the toll plaza to increase capacity, he told The Financial Express over the phone.
The Jamuna Bridge was opened in 1998 with the provision of both road and rail transport. The four-lane bridge with a width of 18.5 metres, however, developed cracks.
Experts said cracks had appeared due to vibrations caused by the movement of trains as it was not incorporated at the design stage. Later, the government constructed a separate railway bridge 300 metres upstream, which was inaugurated in March 2025.
smunima@yahoo.com