The Khulna-Jessore Highway has started showing signs of significant pavement damage in the midst of repair works that are currently underway for its renovation under the supervision of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD).
According to official sources, contractor company Tama Construction was given the task of repairing 19km of the highway from Jessore’s Rajghat to Chengutia at a cost of Tk147 crore. The project work began in June 2019 and was scheduled to be completed within a year. However, the contractor missed its deadline and subsequently sought a one-year extension.
Moreover, around a 6-7km portion of the highway in Chengutia is now beginning to show signs of pavement damage despite it being paved with new asphalt between January-February this year, confirmed Moazzem Hossain, Executive Engineer, RHD, Jessore.
“Having said that, there weren’t any errors on the contractor’s part, when it carried out the repair works in Chengutia. The road was damaged due to freighter vehicles carrying extra loads over the highway’s capacity.”
Effective steps are being taken to introduce a truck load monitoring system on the highway, the official added.
“There is a plan to check loads of freighter vehicles before they enter the highway. Vehicle owners and drivers will be made aware beforehand about this initiative which is to be implemented within a couple of months,” he said.
He also added that the recently damaged portion of the highway in Chengutia would once more be repaired by the Toma Construction within the project deadline.
Asad Sheikh, a resident of Chengutia, said: “Speeding vehicles braking hard in order to allow pedestrians to cross the road, causes pavement damage on the highway. As a result, vehicles are facing difficulties when plying on the rickety portion of the highway at the moment.”
Truck driver Farooq Hossain said he has doubts about the quality of work at the site. “It’s difficult to say in advance when the driver is going to brake. And as soon as you brake hard on the Chengutia portion of the highway, there is significant pavement damage. If this is due to overload, why only on this highway? We also drive trucks on other highways. We don’t face such issues anywhere else.”
Meanwhile, speaking on the issue, Nizamul Islam Nizam, project manager of Toma Construction, claimed that overloaded trucking was indeed the reason behind the untimely pavement damage on the highway.
He also said besides overloaded trucking, there are also flaws in the design for the highway repairs. “The highway is being equipped with a load capacity of 30 tons, but trucks on this highway carry double that maximum load.”
He further blamed the lack of steps to control the overloaded trucking on the highway and demanded the introduction of overload checking.
He also maintained that the Toma Construction would repair the damaged area within the stipulated period to preserve its own reputation.