Project Name

Construction of Bridge on Bhulta-Araihazar-Bancharampur road over the river Meghna

Location

Narayanganj and Brahmanbaria Districts

Map

Estimated Cost

BDT 7463.75 crore

Objectives

• Establishing direct road communication of Bancharampur and Nabinagor Upazilas of Brahmanbaria district with Dhaka & Northern and South-western part of the country.
• Establishing alternate route of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway and Dhaka-Sylhet Highway;
• Establishing easy & smooth transportation of goods & passengers from Sylhet and Chittagong to Gazipur, Tongi & norther districts through using this corridor;  
• Reducing distance and travel time of Dhaka city with Homna & Titas upazilas of Comilla district.
• Establishing shortest road connectivity of Dhaka city with Agartala of India.

Impact on economy & GDP

Completion of this project will bring enormous social and economic benefits to the people living in Narayanganj and Brahmanbaria Districts in particular and Northern and South-western part of the country in general.

Project Description

Meghna River, one of the three principal river systems of Bangladesh separated the eastern part of the country from the rest. There exist just two road bridges across Meghna river for vehicular access to and from the eastern part besides a few ferry crossings. One road bridge is located at Bhairab-Ashuganj on National Highway N2 (Dhaka-Sylhet). The other bridge system is on Dhaka-Chittagong Highway N1. It consists of two major bridges starting at Meghna Ghat over the main channel of Meghna River followed by a number of shorter bridges over other channels stretching over five kilometers followed by another major bridge over river Gumti (a tributory of Meghna) about ten kilometers away. The two bridges are almost eighty kilometers apart. About forty kilometers downstream of the bridge over N1 Meghna confluences with Padma river and bridging that wide braided Lower Meghna river system is economically unviable. Considering the high traffic volume in Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, another Meghna crossing in-between the eighty-kilometer stretch would be highly desirable. Besides, construction of such a bridge and its connecting road to N102 (Comilla-Brahmanbaria Road) will usher development to the eastern side of the proposed bridge. Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), Government of Bangladesh has taken steps to construct a bridge over river Meghna on the Bhulta-Araihazar-Bancharampur road (R-203) near the existing Ferry Ghats, namely Bishnandi (Narayanganj) and Koraikandi (Brahmanbaria). This location is approximately middle between the two existing bridges.

2. The present communication scenario in the eastern part of the proposed bridge calls for major improvement. For vehicular traffic to Dhaka from Bancharampur/Nabinagar region, one has to take a long roundabout route via Brahmanbaria/Debiduar and through either of the two bridges. Ferry service that is provided at river crossings is of poor quality, subject to many interruptions owing to the adverse meteorological conditions. It often involves waiting for long hours for freight traffic. Limited carrying capacity of ferry services constraints heavy vehicles to transhipment by smaller vehicles leading further delay and loss of materials. The ferry service does not operate 24x7. As few vehicles ply in that area, good quality road infrastructure has also not developed. Even the regional road R-203 is not totally motorable between Nabinagar and Radhika. Thus while Bancharam/ Nabinagar is very close to Dhaka area, the desirable development of that area has not taken place because of lack of connectivity in absence of a bridge over river Meghna. The proposed bridge will also offer an alternate route of river crossing for the large number of commercial vehicles plying on already congested Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet Road by offering a connection from Dhaka side to Comilla-Sylhet Highway (N-102) that connects National Highways N1 and N2 on the eastern side of the country.

3. Based on reconnaissance survey, hydrological and morphological study and discussions with the stakeholders, the bridge alignment has been fixed at about 100m from existing Ferry Ghats. The approach road on Narayanganj side will be connected to Bostail Bus stand on Bostail-Araihazar-Narshingdi road with a junction with Bhulta-Araihazar road. A number of bridge options from 110m span continuous post tensioned Box Girder options to 650m main span Cable stayed Bridge were examined. It was recognized that keeping the number of foundations within the river to minimum will greatly reduce the risks of uncertainty associated with pile installation. Construction of one long span cable stayed bridge would significantly enhance the engineering capability of the country. The cable stayed bridge with 650m span has a total length of 1320m. The balance portion is bridge by 110m+70m post tensioned box girder on either side.

4. Major activities under this project are as follows: