Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has inaugurated the construction of the first phase of Dhaka elevated expressway.
The minister opened the construction work and handed over the land properties to construction companies concerned in the capital’s Kawla Point on Sunday morning.
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He said: “This day can be termed as auspicious because the construction work of the elevated expressway began today [Sunday] after overcoming many hurdles.”
Obaidul said the total length of the expressway is 47 kilometres, including 27km ramps, and the lane measures 20 kilometres in straight length.
The expressway starts at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and runs along New Airport Road via Mohakhali, Tejgaon and Moghbazar to Kamalapur Railway Station before connecting with Dhaka-Chittagong highway via Sayedabad and Jatrabari.
The project is being implemented by Bangladesh Bridge Authority, financed by Italian-Thai Development Public Construction Limited while China Railway Construction have got the contract of the project.
Bangladesh Bridge Authority Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam and Italian-Thai Development Public Construction Limited President Prenchai Karnasuta, among the others, were present in the inaugural programme.
According to Bangladesh Bridge Authority, elevated expressway construction was scheduled to begin in December 2011 but was delayed for over three years due to lack of funding.
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In January 2011, the government signed an agreement with a Bangkok-based firm to build the four-lane expressway at a cost of Tk8,703 crore under the public-private partnership scheme.
The deal was later revised and a fresh one was inked on December 15, 2013.
