JICA-funded Cross-border road network

Tk 2,473cr project envisaged

The Cross-border Road Network Improvement project, which will connect Asian Highway 1 (AH1), will be completed by 2022 with the financial assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Its aim is to ensure the economic growth of Bangladesh and South Asia. The project is likely to get the nod of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) when it will be tabled tomorrow at the meeting of the country’s highest policymaking body. The roads and highways department will implement the project at a cost of Tk. 2,472.98 crore, aiming to complete the project between May 2016 and June 2022. JICA will provide Tk. 1,851.78 crore and the government will provide Tk. 662.61 crore. The government has taken up the implementation of the project to improve national and regional transportation and logistics networks by rehabilitating and developing major international roads in Bangladesh, thereby contributing to the economic growth of Bangladesh and South Asia. The project proposal said this road would play a vital role towards improving the socio-economic condition of 1.7 billion in this region and also boost trade among four neighbouring countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal.
According to the project summary, the implementing agency—the Roads and Highway Division—will construct a four-lane Kalna Bridge on the Dhaka– Jessore–Benapole Road (AH1). This is in addition to the construction of an approach road and installation of a toll collection system with toll booths; replacement and reconstruction of four existing bridges by a four-lane one with service lanes, two four-lane ones, and two-lane small to medium size PC girder bridges on the Dhaka–Jessore– Benapole road, together with the installation of an axle load control station at Benapole; replacement and reconstruction of eight existing bridges by two-lane small size PC girder bridges together with the installation of axle load control stations at Ramgarh; and replacement and reconstruction of four existing bridges by four-lane small to medium-size PC girder bridges on the Chittagong–Cox’s Bazar Road.
Meanwhile, the implementing agency has invited expressions of interest from interested bidders to undertake consultancy services for the project. After completion of the project, it will connect with AH-1, which is a part of the India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway that will connect Moreh to Mae Sot in Thailand, via Mandalay and Yangon in Myanmar. The road will be further linked to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The India–Myanmar– Thailand (IMT) road corridor is one of the highways of the Trans-Asian Highway network, comprising 1,41,000 km of roads passing through 32 member countries, and is being pursued by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). The network extends from Tokyo in the east to Kapikule, Turkey, in the west and from Torpynovka in the Russian Federation in the north, to Denpasar, Indonesia, in the south.

JICA-funded Cross-border road network

Tk 2,473cr project envisaged

The Cross-border Road Network Improvement project, which will connect Asian Highway 1 (AH1), will be completed by 2022 with the financial assistance of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Its aim is to ensure the economic growth of Bangladesh and South Asia. The project is likely to get the nod of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) when it will be tabled tomorrow at the meeting of the countrys highest policymaking body. The roads and highways department will implement the project at a cost of Tk. 2,472.98 crore, aiming to complete the project between May 2016 and June 2022. JICA will provide Tk. 1,851.78 crore and the government will provide Tk. 662.61 crore. The government has taken up the implementation of the project to improve national and regional transportation and logistics networks by rehabilitating and developing major international roads in Bangladesh, thereby contributing to the economic growth of Bangladesh and South Asia. The project proposal said this road would play a vital role towards improving the socio-economic condition of 1.7 billion in this region and also boost trade among four neighbouring countriesBangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal. According to the project summary, the implementing agencythe Roads and Highway Divisionwill construct a four-lane Kalna Bridge on the Dhaka JessoreBenapole Road (AH1). This is in addition to the construction of an approach road and installation of a toll collection system with toll booths; replacement and reconstruction of four existing bridges by a four-lane one with service lanes, two four-lane ones, and two-lane small to medium size PC girder bridges on the DhakaJessore Benapole road, together with the installation of an axle load control station at Benapole; replacement and reconstruction of eight existing bridges by two-lane small size PC girder bridges together with the installation of axle load control stations at Ramgarh; and replacement and reconstruction of four existing bridges by four-lane small to medium-size PC girder bridges on the ChittagongCoxs Bazar Road. Meanwhile, the implementing agency has invited expressions of interest from interested bidders to undertake consultancy services for the project. After completion of the project, it will connect with AH-1, which is a part of the IndiaMyanmarThailand Trilateral Highway that will connect Moreh to Mae Sot in Thailand, via Mandalay and Yangon in Myanmar. The road will be further linked to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. The IndiaMyanmar Thailand (IMT) road corridor is one of the highways of the Trans-Asian Highway network, comprising 1,41,000 km of roads passing through 32 member countries, and is being pursued by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). The network extends from Tokyo in the east to Kapikule, Turkey, in the west and from Torpynovka in the Russian Federation in the north, to Denpasar, Indonesia, in the south.