Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the much-awaited four-lane Second Meghna Bridge and the Second Gumti Bridge on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.
She opened the two bridges through a videoconference from her official residence Ganabhaban on Saturday (May 25), reports BSS.
The prime minister also opened two flyovers — Konabari and Chandra flyovers, four underpasses — Kaliakair, Deohata, Mirzapur and Gharinda underpasses, and two more bridges — Kadda-1 and Bimail bridges, on the Joydebpur-Chandra-Tangail-Elenga Highway under the SASEC Road Link Project.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader gave welcome address on the occasion while Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque and Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque were present on the dais.
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Hiroyasu Izumi also spoke on the occasion.
The prime minister’s Principal Secretary moderated the inaugural ceremony while Secretary of Road Transport and Highways Division Md Nazrul Islam gave brief pictorial and video presentation of the uplift schemes.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Second Shitalakkhya Bridge on the river on March 16 this year.
Japanese contractors Obayshi Corporation, Shimizu Corporation, JFE Engineer Corporation, and IHI Infra Systems Company Limited started the constructions of the 2nd Kanchpur bridge along with the second Meghna and second Meghna-Gumti bridges on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway in January 2016.
The total estimated cost of the three bridges was at Taka 8,487 crore, of which Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) provided Tk 64.3 billion.
The cost of the project was over Tk 10 billion less than what was estimated.
As per the contract, the Japanese firms began work in January 2016 and it was scheduled to be complete within June 2019 but the progress of the work was halted for around four months after the Holey Artisan attack in July 2016.
The government then extended the deadline for six months by fixing December 2019 but the construction of the bridges has been completed around seven months before that.
The 400-metre new Kanchpur bridge, with cost of Tk 9.5 billion was completed in December 2017.
The construction work of the new 930-metre Meghna and 1,410-metre Gumti bridges was completed with a cost of Taka 17.5 billion and Tk 19.5 billion respectively.
The overpass on the east end of Kanchpur Bridge will be opened to public on May 31 to ease Eid journey.