Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge
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As the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge will be an important link in planned Trans Asian Railway, this railway bridge is considered an important part of the national and future regional and international railway transport networks which will contribute in GDP growth and will enhance the socio-economic development in the western part of the country and thus minimize regional disparity.
Bangladesh Railway is going to introduce a new railway bridge over the river Jamuna parallel to the existing Bangabandhu Bridge. The bridge will improve the capacity and safety of railway transportation in Bangladesh and contribute to efficient logistic network within the country and with neighboring countries in South Asia. This new dedicated railway bridge will be constructed under a project of Bangladesh Railway titled `Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge Construction Project` and the name of the structure will be ” Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge’. The project is going to be implemented under Government of Bangladesh and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) fund.
This Project is termed as flagship project between Japan & Bangladesh and it is one of the five projects included in the Japan-Bangladesh Comprehensive Partnership joint statement which was signed in May 2014. After completion of the first feasibility study with support from the Asian Development Bank, Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested Japanese funding for the project when she met Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on May 2014 during her Japan visit. The project was approved in ECNEC meeting on 06 December 2016. The first revision of the project was approved on 3rd March 2020 as per the accepted tender. Total cost of the 1st revised DPP of the project is BDT 16780.9563 Crore in which GOB-BDT 4631.7584 Crore and JICA project aid-BDT 12149.1979 Crore. The implementation period of the project is 01 July 2016 to 30 December 2025.
The new railway bridge will improve accessibility to the cities between the eastern and western part of the country through increasing the railway network. It will improve the operational efficiency and financial performance of Bangladesh Railway through higher productivity, asset utilization and lowering operational cost. It will contribute to improve connectivity for international freight (container) traffic along the Trans-Asian railway.
This is the first time Bangladesh Railway is going to introduce new technologies such as Steel Truss Bridge with Weathering Steel, Direct Rail Fastening System, Steel-Pipe-Sheet-Pile Foundation (SPSP-F), Head Hardened Rail and Derailment Prevention Grid.
The existing Bangabandhu Bridge supports a four-lane highway and a single dual guage railway track with restrictions of axle load, speed & train composition. For Instance, the wagon load, either containers or bulk should not exceed a nominal UDL (Uniformly Distributed Load) of 43.7 KN/m, the locomotive should have an empty wagon behind it and at no time shall there be more than one locomotive in the train.
The speed on the bridge should also be limited to 20km/hr, special clearance provisions should be established and effective means for enforcing the loading and clearance restrictions are to be adopted. Due to these limitations, BR can only operate a limited number of trains over the Bangabandhu Bridge. In the current scenario, 38 trains can run per day with a limited speed at 20 kmph over the existing Bangabandhu Bridge.
With increasing demand for both rail and road traffic, the current bridge has become a serious transport bottleneck. To meet increasing national and sub-regional traffic demand, the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) recognizes the urgent need to construct a dedicated railway bridge parallel to the existing Bangabandhu Bridge with the provision of a Dual-Gauge double track. As the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge will be an important link in planned Trans Asian Railway, this railway bridge is considered an important part of the national and future regional and international railway transport networks.
Unit Details of the Project:
Under the project a dedicated Railway Bridge (approximately 4.8 km) will be constructed with the provision of Dual Gauge Double track over the River Jamuna, parallel to and approximately 300m upstream of the existing Bangabandhu Bridge.
In addition to the main bridge, the following works are included in the project:
” Consultancy Services for Feasibility Study Review, Detail design, tender Assistance, consultancy Supervision and facilitation for implementation of Environment Management Plan (EMP) & Environmental Monitoring plan (EMoP).
” Construction of railway viaducts 0.05 km;
” Construction of 7.6 km railway approach;
” Construction of Minor bridges and culverts on the railway approach;
” A renovation & remodeling of the two station buildings and yards (BBE and BBW) on two sides of the bridge for double line operation and modernization of signaling and telecommunication system of the stations.
” Construction of office building, residential buildings, dormitories, cafeteria, substation, generator house, over head water tank with deep tubewell, gate houses for office and residence, bridge security building (west) and inspection bungalow;
” Construction of a Railway bridge museum.
” A provision to facilitate the gas transmission pipeline through the bridge;
Project Progress:
Oriental Consultants Global Co. Ltd, Japan and JV’ has been appointed to provide the consultancy services for feasibility study, detail design and construction supervision of the project. After completion of Feasibility Study, Detail Design & tender Document, international tender notice was floated for selection of contractor for package WD1 & WD2 on 17 October 2018. Following due procedure, the tender was accepted by CCGP on 09 January 2020. Two contractors (OTJ Joint Venture.,(for package-WD1) and IHI-SMCC Joint Venture.,(for package-WD2) were engaged on 05 April 2020 and they commenced the work on 10 August 2020.
The bridge and it’s approaches will be constructed within the land acquired by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA). BBA has agreed to hand over 168.5703 acre of land permanently and 262.5203 acre of land temporarily for construction yard, stockpile areas and site facilities. BBA and BR signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for handing over the required land to BR for the project in January 2016. The detailed Land Handover Plan prepared by BR was agreed between BR and BBA in October 2018. In accordance with the plan, BBA has already handed over the land to Bangladesh Railway. BR handed over the land to the contractor on 27 July 2020.
Benefits of the project:
¢ The project will change the railway operational scenario dramatically. After completion of the project and implementing double track construction project between Joydebpur and Ishurdi, railway line capacity will be lifted up to 88 per day from the existing 38 slots per day.
¢ Passenger train will be allowed to run with a maximum speed of 120 kmph (BG) and 100kmph (MG) over the proposed bridge. This improved speed will constitute a 70% reduction in traveling time over the bridge i.e., 10-12 minutes saved. In addition, the increase in speed as a result of double tracking and rehabilitation of the current line would reduce the travel time by an additional 20%. Total time savings would reduce the travel time by 2 hours 50 minutes to Khulna and 1 hour 30 minutes to Rajshahi, 2 hours 50 minutes to Dinajpur and 2 hours 20 minutes to Rangpur.
¢ New sets of train will be introduced which will reduce traffic congestion and air pollution through the diversion of some road traffic to rail.
¢ BG container train service will be introduced and the goods train will be operated to carry freight traffic along with the national, regional and Trans-Asian Railway networks.
¢ This project will also create new job opportunities. 148 operation and maintenance personnel will be recruited after completion of the project and temporary employment will be generated during the implementation period of the project.
In brief, the new railway bridge will improve accessibility to the cities between the eastern and western part of the country through increasing the railway network. It will improve the operational efficiency and financial performance of Bangladesh Railway through higher productivity, asset utilization and lowering operational cost.
As the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge will be an important link in planned Trans Asian Railway, this railway bridge is considered an important part of the national and future regional and international railway transport networks which will contribute in GDP growth and will enhance the socio-economic development in the western part of the country and thus minimize regional disparity.
