Cracks have appeared in newly concreted sections of a road being rehabilitated at a cost of Tk 14 crore in Paba and Tanore upazilas of Rajshahi, raising questions over the quality of the construction work.
Some sections of the road have also subsided. Local residents alleged that the soil beneath the road was not properly compacted, rollers were not used adequately and, in some places, low-quality materials were used. They also alleged that the concrete was laid thinner than required.
Paba Upazila Engineer Mohammad Ali denied the allegations, saying there was no problem with the quality of the construction materials.
According to him, the main problem is the soil beneath the road. He said the area has ‘organic soil’, which loses its load-bearing capacity when saturated with water. The soil, therefore, subsides under the weight of the pavement. Excessive rainfall and the movement of heavy vehicles have also contributed to the damage, he said.
According to project documents, more than nine kilometres of the road are being rehabilitated under the project titled “Rehabilitation of Baya-Kashim Bazar-Tanore Road (Widening and Strengthening).” Work began on May 9 and is scheduled to be completed by March 12, 2027. The project is being implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED).
During a visit to the road from Baya in Paba to the outskirts of Tanore on Thursday morning, cracks were found at several points along about half a kilometre of newly laid concrete in the Baksara-Nawdapara area. Work on the cracked sections had been suspended, although construction continued elsewhere.
Kurban Ali, a local resident, alleged that concrete was laid in some places without properly clearing the surface and that the underlying soil was not adequately compacted.
Mohammad Nazmul Huda Molla, a former Ward 4 councillor, alleged that the soil had not been properly compacted after excavation. He also claimed that the concrete was too thin and that excessive sand and insufficient stone chips had been used.
Another resident, Abdul Jalil, said cracks appeared soon after the concrete was laid. “If the work continues like this, the road will not last even a year,” he said.
Mohammad Ali said an application had been submitted to revise the project design based on the soil’s bearing capacity, rainwater and heavy-vehicle pressure.
Under the proposed revision, a three-inch concrete layer would be supplemented by 12-inch RCC pavement, with two layers of reinforcement mesh and corner bars or rods, he said.
Contractor Mohammad Yunus Ali said heavy vehicles should ideally have been kept off the newly laid concrete for at least 28 days. But because the road is important, heavy vehicles continued to use it, which may have contributed to the damage.
He also said the soil base was poor and claimed that the authorities had been informed of their concerns before construction.