Chinese firm gets nod to run Bangabandhu Tunnel toll plaza

The government has allowed China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCCL) as the service provider to run toll plaza on both sides of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel, the maiden such viaduct in the country.

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase in a meeting on Wednesday approved the Bridge Division proposal to appoint CCCCL as the service provider for Bangabandhu Tunnel. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the meeting.

After the meeting, Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Syed Mahbub Kamal told reporters that the government will pay the company Tk 983.82 crore in 5 years for procurement of equipment, installing plaza and doing its maintenance.

According to officials concerned, 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 funds, or Tk 656.98 crore, have to be paid in local currencies.

It is the first tunnel in the country to be built beneath the Karnaphuli river and is 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 a direct road connection between Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar with Dhaka. It will be connected to the Asian Highway and will facilitate the transportation of goods to the Chittagong seaport. This tunnel 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 a 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.