Extension sought for third time

Past extensions raise costs to Tk 3,190cr from Tk 2,382cr

The Road Division has written to the planning ministry for extending the deadline of the four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway by another year.
Earlier, the deadline of the project was extended twice resulting in the rise of the project cost to Tk. 3,190 crore  from Tk. 2,382 crore. As many as Tk. 2271.27 crore has been spent till date out of the total cost.
The implementing agency has proposed to increase the cost of project to Tk. 3706.25 crore, which is higher than the cost that was decided on during the second deadline extension.
As per the proposed deadline, the project would complete on December 31, 2016, instead of December 31, 2015.
Change of consultants, intervention of local ruling party leaders in the land filling works, removal of tombs, mosques, temples and educational institutions were cited as some of the reasons behind the delay. The work to upgrade the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane national highway has only progressed 69.20 per cent, according to the latest progress report on the project.
The Road Highway Division has disclosed this information about the physical progress of the key highway and economic lifeline of Bangladesh at a meeting held at Sarak Bhaban on July 25. The project deadline, which has been extended twice, is scheduled to end in December this year.
According to the minutes of the meeting, construction of 192-km-long highways, 143-km-long roads, 240 culverts and 20 bridges, and 180km of earth-filling work have been completed so far.
According to the progress report, 50 km of pavements have still remained incomplete. Of this, 20 km of pavements are yet to be asphalted and 30 kilometres of pavements remain at a very primary stage. Such incomplete pavement parts are in Comilla and Feni districts.
Under the four-lane project plan, the authorities concerned had appointed contractors in February 2012 to build seven bridges and three flyovers along the highway. The bridges and flyovers were scheduled to be completed in two consecutive years.
The original pavement along the highway has already cracked due to prolonged construction work and lack of maintenance on the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway. The roads and highways authorities maintain the existing roads with the help of contractors appointed for the four-lane project.
As per agreement, the existing highway would be kept open with the construction of the four-lane highway. But the Chinese company Sinohydro, which was initially contracted for the project, had refused to meet this agreement clause. Later, the entire maintenance contract was handed over to two Bangladeshi companies—Reza Construction, and Taher Brothers Limited. The 28-km-long section on the existing Dhaka-Chittagong highway (N1), stretching from Dhaka to Daudkandi, except for Meghna and Daudkandi Bridges, was a four-lane road in 2005. Later, traffic on the highway exceeded to 40,000 passenger car equivalents a day (PCU/day) at most of the locations. The increased traffic was overburdening the two-lane road between Daudkandi and Chittagong beyond its capacity, resulted in heavy congestion, delays and accidents.
In order to cope with the increasing traffic on the highway, the government decided to expand the existing 192-km-long two-lane Daudkandi-to-Chittagong road into a four-lane divided road, with provisions for future expansion to a six-lane road.
The Dhaka-Chittagong highway upgrade project was initiated by the government in January 2006. The proposal for the development was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in January 2008. The project is being executed by the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) or build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) or private-public partnership (PPP) basis.

 

Extension sought for third time

Past extensions raise costs to Tk 3,190cr from Tk 2,382cr

The Road Division has written to the planning ministry for extending the deadline of the four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway by another year. Earlier, the deadline of the project was extended twice resulting in the rise of the project cost to Tk. 3,190 crore from Tk. 2,382 crore. As many as Tk. 2271.27 crore has been spent till date out of the total cost. The implementing agency has proposed to increase the cost of project to Tk. 3706.25 crore, which is higher than the cost that was decided on during the second deadline extension. As per the proposed deadline, the project would complete on December 31, 2016, instead of December 31, 2015. Change of consultants, intervention of local ruling party leaders in the land filling works, removal of tombs, mosques, temples and educational institutions were cited as some of the reasons behind the delay. The work to upgrade the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane national highway has only progressed 69.20 per cent, according to the latest progress report on the project. The Road Highway Division has disclosed this information about the physical progress of the key highway and economic lifeline of Bangladesh at a meeting held at Sarak Bhaban on July 25. The project deadline, which has been extended twice, is scheduled to end in December this year. According to the minutes of the meeting, construction of 192-km-long highways, 143-km-long roads, 240 culverts and 20 bridges, and 180km of earth-filling work have been completed so far. According to the progress report, 50 km of pavements have still remained incomplete. Of this, 20 km of pavements are yet to be asphalted and 30 kilometres of pavements remain at a very primary stage. Such incomplete pavement parts are in Comilla and Feni districts. Under the four-lane project plan, the authorities concerned had appointed contractors in February 2012 to build seven bridges and three flyovers along the highway. The bridges and flyovers were scheduled to be completed in two consecutive years. The original pavement along the highway has already cracked due to prolonged construction work and lack of maintenance on the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway. The roads and highways authorities maintain the existing roads with the help of contractors appointed for the four-lane project. As per agreement, the existing highway would be kept open with the construction of the four-lane highway. But the Chinese company Sinohydro, which was initially contracted for the project, had refused to meet this agreement clause. Later, the entire maintenance contract was handed over to two Bangladeshi companiesReza Construction, and Taher Brothers Limited. The 28-km-long section on the existing Dhaka-Chittagong highway (N1), stretching from Dhaka to Daudkandi, except for Meghna and Daudkandi Bridges, was a four-lane road in 2005. Later, traffic on the highway exceeded to 40,000 passenger car equivalents a day (PCU/day) at most of the locations. The increased traffic was overburdening the two-lane road between Daudkandi and Chittagong beyond its capacity, resulted in heavy congestion, delays and accidents. In order to cope with the increasing traffic on the highway, the government decided to expand the existing 192-km-long two-lane Daudkandi-to-Chittagong road into a four-lane divided road, with provisions for future expansion to a six-lane road. The Dhaka-Chittagong highway upgrade project was initiated by the government in January 2006. The proposal for the development was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in January 2008. The project is being executed by the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) or build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) or private-public partnership (PPP) basis.