Narrative description of Project:
Road traffic between Dhaka and Chittagong is hampered by the lack of capacity of the existing 250-kilometer highway and load restrictions on bridges. In general, a fully loaded container cannot be transported by road to Dhaka. Road safety on the two-lane highway is poor because it is overcrowded with different types of vehicles, including rickshaws, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, buses, and trucks. The journey between Dhaka and Chittagong can take up to 10 hours because of congestion on the road.
To address the transport needs in this corridor, the government is (i) upgrading the existing Dhaka-Chittagong highway by widening of the remaining two-lane sections to four lanes, which is planned for completion by 2013; (ii) improving the capacity of the railway line by making the remaining single-track sections double-track, which is planned for completion in 3-5 years; and (iii) planning to build a new access-controlled expressway. This expressway will provide enough additional capacity in this important corridor to accommodate future traffic growth and will also meet the demand for a safer and more reliable road connection. This expressway is badly needed, particularly with recent high-level intergovernmental consultations and agreements that will allow better access for Bhutan, India, and Nepal to Chittagong Port. This additional traffic of goods and passengers will use the Dhaka-Chittagong corridor and has to be considered when planning the road capacity between Dhaka and Chittagong.

Country: Bangladesh
Location within country:
Dhaka City
Name of Client:
THE ROADS AND HIGHWAYS DEPARTMENT-MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND BRIDGES
Address: Dhaka City, Bangladesh.

Start date (month/year): 08/ 2016
Completion date (month/year): 10/ 2016
Name of associated Consultants, if any:
SMEC Bangladesh

Description of actual services provided by our staff within the assignment:
• Prepare preliminary design of soft soil treatment and approaching embankment sections to the bridges;
• Provide Independent Design Verification of the Detailed Design of Megna Bridge (max 87m span).