Chinese firm being appointed to run toll plaza of Bangabandhu Tunnel

China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCCL) is being appointed as the service provider to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel, the maiden such viaduct in the country.

The company will do maintenance and run toll plaza on the both sides of the tunnel.

The government will pay the company a total of Tk 983.82 crore in 5 years for procurement of equipment, installing plaza and doing its maintenance.

According to bridges’ division sources, 65 percent of the entire amount will be paid to CCCCL in Bangladeshi currency while 35 percent in foreign currency.

In order to carry out the tasks, a number of scanners and other equipment have to be imported from abroad at a cost of Tk 3.51 crore in foreign currencies. Most of the fund, or Tk 656.98 crore have to be paid in local currencies.

A procurement proposal in this regard will be tabled before the Cabinet Committee on Government Procurement for approval. The committee is likely to approve the proposal in the meeting today. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal will preside over.

Earlier on May 18, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in a meeting endorsed in-principle approval to the proposal to appoint construction company CCCL for tunnel maintenance and toll collection.

According to the sources, the Road department has decided to open the tunnel to traffic in December.

In view of the proposal of CCCL, also the tunnel construction company, and in the light of their previous experiences, the company was appointed through a direct purchase method.

It is the first tunnel in the country being built beneath the Karnaphuli river and also a pioneer in South Asia. If this 3.32 km long tunnel is opened, it will make traffic movement easier between the western part of Chittagong city and its eastern part across the Karnaphuli river. The tunnel will also thin the traffic congestion in Chittagong city and establish direct road connection between Chittagong and Cox's Bazar with Dhaka. It will be connected to the Asian Highway and will facilitate transportation of goods to the Chittagong seaport. This tunnel will is expected significantly to increase GDP growth.

A service provider and plaza operator has to be appointed for maintenance and toll collection of the tunnel, a turnkey facility in Bangladesh before it is opened to vehicular movements.

The major tunnel maintenance tasks are: Tunnel maintenance, the viaduct maintenance, approach road maintenance on both sides, installing and maintaining tunnel health monitoring System, patrol and rescue, automatic weigh scale management and toll collection, run an Intelligent Traffic Surveillance System, doing tunnel water supply and drainage system, tunnel fire rescue system, tunnel air ventilation and lighting system, etc.

CCCL has earned reputation by building roads, tunnel in some Asian countries. A notable of them are the 190-km long Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway with tunnels, the 255-km long Daozhen-Weng'an Expressway, the 109 km long Fuling-Fengdu-Sizhou Expressway, and 7-km long Nan Xing Yangtze River Tunnel.

The maintenance body shall introduce traffic information application with latest technology allowing the system to automatically collect information regarding vehicles inside the viaduct at any given time or at other locations under the company’s jurisdiction through mobile, wireless or any other devices. The Real Time Road Pavement Damage Dictation System and Automatic Weight Control and Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system will be introduced there.

The CCCL will provide necessary training on tunnel maintenance to the team consisting of indigenous manpower.