Bangabandhu Tunnel construction goes in full swing amid lockdown

Construction works of the Bangabandhu Tunnel under the Karnaphuli River, one of the government infrastructure development megaprojects, is going in full swing amid the countrywide all-out lockdown.

Capitalising on thin traffic on the highways due to the movement restriction, the project gets necessary materials fast as it along with other megaprojects were kept out of lockdown.

Project Director Harun Ur Rashid informed that almost 66.5 per cent of the construction work of the tunnel has been completed.

As of Wednesday, the boring works for 900 meters out of the 2450 meter second tube has been completed, he added.

Earlier at the end of August last year, the project could complete the boring works of the first tube with 18 months of digging works.

In December 2020, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader inaugurated the construction of the second tube.

The boring started from the border of Anowara Upazila and is supposed to end at Patenga, bank of the Karnaphuly River.

Harun said, “We hope we will be able to finish the boring works of the second tube within this year December.”

The Tk10,374 crore megaproject was commenced in 2015 and supposed to end by 2020.

Meanwhile, the duration of the project was extended till December 2022.

The boring machine had started digging the soil for the first tube from the Patenga end and shifted towards the other end at a depth about 18-31meters under the river.

The two tubes, each measuring 35 feet in width and 16 feet in height, will cover four lanes.

The Project Director hopes they can open the tunnel by the end of 2022 if the construction works go swiftly like the present time.

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority is building the 3.5 kilometre-long country’s first-ever four-lane Bangabandhu Tunnel under the Karnaphuli River with an approach road of 4.89 kilometres alongside 740 meters of a bridge linking the main city with southern regions of the Chattogram.