Two service bridges open, easing route to Dhaka’s industrial belt

Two 3.71-kilometre double-lane service bridges on the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway, running from Dhour Intersection to Ashulia, opened to traffic on Wednesday, offering toll-free relief on the route towards Baipail and Ashulia.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam inaugurated the bridges around 10am, calling the wider expressway project “an important project” that “will ensure congestion-free connectivity between Dhaka and the country’s north-western region.”
Project Director Shafiqul Islam said a further four-kilometre stretch from Abdullahpur to Dhour Mor is due to open 
by December, with most of the 24-kilometre elevated expressway expected to be in public use within a year.
The minister put overall progress at 65%, adding that “65%-70% of the work had been completed in three and a half years,” and that “we completed more work in the past six months than the target set for the period.” 
He described utility shifting as “one of the biggest challenges” requiring close follow-up.
Once linked to the Dhaka Elevated Expressway near Kawla, the project will form a 44-kilometre elevated corridor connecting Ashulia-Abdullahpur with Kuril, Banani, Mohakhali, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Kamalapur, Sayedabad, Jatrabari and Kutubkhali. 
It is expected to speed the movement of trucks and export goods between the Savar EPZ, the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway (N1), N8 and the country’s ports.
Under the second revised Development Project Proposal, the scheme runs from September 2017 to June 2030 at a cost of Tk27,045.68 crore – 51.06% government-funded, with the remainder from a China Exim Bank loan. China National Machinery Import and Export Corporation (CMC) is the EPC contractor under the government-to-government arrangement.
The minister praised the contractor for completing work “on time without compromising quality” and said Dhaka expected further infrastructure cooperation with Beijing.