Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to lay the foundation stone of the dedicated railway bridge over theJamuna River on Sunday.
“The prime minister will lay the foundation stone of the 4.8km long double-line dual-gauge Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge at 10:30am virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban,” said an official of the Railways Ministry.
According to the project details, contractors concerned have already started preliminary works of the bridge while construction of the main structure will start on Sunday.
He said building of construction yard and facility development for employers-engineers and contractors are progressing fast.
The main bridge will be constructed under two packages. Two separate agreements have already been signed with Obayashi-TOA-JFE, Japan, and IHI-SMCC JV, Japan, for eastern and western part of civil works respectively.
As per the agreements, land was handed over to both the contractors in July this year. The new bridge will be able to run trains at a speed of 120kmph on broad gauge line and 100kmph on the meter gauge track. With the construction of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge, 88 trains will be able to run.
The project is scheduled to be completed by 2025.
Local staffers of the contractors are now preparing the construction site, fencing the site and building accommodation facilities for workers. A land-related dispute with the Bangladesh Bridge Authority for building a construction yard has already been settled.
Of the approved project cost of Tk9,734.07 crore, Tk7724.32 crore would come from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) as project assistance and Tk2009.75 crore from Bangladesh government exchequer.
Once built, the dual-gauge double-track bridge would be the largest dedicated rail bridge in the country.
The bridge would improve the capacity of Bangladesh Railway in operating more trains between the capital and western part of the country. It would also help reduce train delays, which are now common, officials said.
While visiting Tokyo on May 25-28, 2014, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested Japan to fund the project when she met Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Later, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also raised the issue when the Japanese prime minister visited Dhaka on September 6, 2014.