After missing several deadlines, the government has decided to launch the Dhaka airport-Banani section of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) in December this year as progress on the section is over 70% complete.
Work on the rest of the bridge has been progressing at a snail’s pace as it has been hampered by major design flaws. The overall progress of the project remains below 50% even though the construction was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina nearly a decade ago.
The design flaws mainly revolve around conflicts with other transport systems that are being implemented, including the Metro Rail and Subway projects.
The DEE project contract was signed on January 19, 2011. It was revised for the first time in 2013 and then again in 2015 due to changes to the design and problems with funding.
The bridge is scheduled for completion in 2023.
The Tk8,940 crore project is being implemented under public-private partnership initiative, with the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) as the main implementing agency. Italian-Thai Development Limited (Italy-Thai), a Thailand-based contractor, is constructing the expressway in association with China’s Shandong International Economic and Technical Corporation Group Limited, and Sino-Hydro Corporation Limited.
According to the concession agreement signed between the BBA and Italian-Thai, the bridge was supposed to be completed within three and a half years.
On condition of anonymity, BBA officials said the 2023 deadline was also unlikely to be met as work on the Banani-Moghbazar section is less than 30% complete, and the Moghbazar- Shonir Akhra section less than 5%.
The DEE is being constructed from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka to Shonir Akhra on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway. The length of the main expressway is 19.7km, but it also includes 31 entry and exit ramps.
Conflict with the Metro Rail project
The underground metro rail (MRT-5, southern route) will be constructed from Gabtoli in Dhaka to Aftabnagar via Asad Gate, Russell Square, Panthapath, Hatirjheel and Niketan. The metro rail is supposed to pass under the elevated expressway in the BFDC Rail Gate area of Karwan Bazar.
Mostafizur Rahman, deputy managing director of the DEE, said the piling work of the elevated expressway in the BFDC Rail-gate area had to be stopped as it would hamper the placement of tubes for the metro rail.
The piling of the expressway is now in the process of being redesigned, he added.
As a result of the redesign, the cost of the expressway is likely to increase further and the launch of the second section (from Banani to Moghbazar) will be disrupted.
Conflict with Bangladesh Railway
There are also design complications in the Kamalapur railway station area, where the Bangladesh Railway (BR) will implement a multi-modal transport hub.
According to the design, a toll plaza of DEE will be constructed in the Kamalapur railway station area. However, BR has requested an amendment to the design of the toll plaza.
According to BR, Kamalapur will become a multi-modal transport incorporating rail, metro rail and subway. As a result, there will be no space for an expressway ramp.
Coordination gaps with other agencies
The BBA has not yet handed over all of the land for the third section (Magbazar-Shonir Akra) of the project to the construction company as the Dhaka Deputy Commissioner’s Office has been lethargic with regard to land acquisition.
A couple of ramps of DEE will connect to Hatirjheel in the Moghbazar area, but the project authorities are yet to receive the nod from the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).
Besides, the Dhaka South City Corporation has opposed the construction of another ramp in the Malibagh area.
“We assume that the feasibility study of the project was not conducted properly, which is why so many problems are being raised,” said Prof Hadiuzzaman of the civil engineering department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet).
However, BBA Project Director Quazi Muhammad Ferdous said: “Many problems arose and have already been resolved. We are trying to resolve all the remaining issues related to the design and construction of the expressway through discussions with the agencies concerned.”
According to the feasibility study, the DEE will be able to accommodate 80,000 vehicles per day and ease travel between North and South Dhaka. Besides, it will connect important commercial and business centres of Dhaka.
