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Bangabandhu Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge opened
in June 1998, is the longest bridge in Bangladesh as
well as in South Asia, and the 11th longest bridge in
the world. It was constructed over the river
jamuna,
mightiest of the three major rivers of Bangladesh, and
fifth largest in the world in terms of volumetric
discharge. The bridge established a strategic link
between the eastern and western parts of Bangladesh. It
generates multifarious benefits for the people and
especially, promotes inter-regional trade in the
country. Apart from quick movement of goods and
passenger traffic by road and rail, it facilitated
transmission of electricity and natural
gas,
and integration of
telecommunication links. The bridge,
stretching from
tangail
to
sirajganj
is located on the Asian Highway and the Trans-Asian
Railway which, when fully developed, will provide
uninterrupted international road and
railway
links from South-east Asia to North-west Europe. The bridge was constructed at a cost
of $962 million. The cost of construction was shared by
IDA, ADB, OECF of Japan, and the government of
Bangladesh. Of the total, IDA, ADB and OECF supplied 22%
each, and the remaining 34% was borne by Bangladesh. The
components of the project's cost were: bridge and
viaducts - $269 million (28%); river training works -
$323 million (35%); roads and embankments - $71 million
(7%); consultancy - $33 million (3%); land, resettlement
and environment - $67 million (7%); establishment - $13
million (1%) and others - $186 million (19%). Considering the fact that the width
of the main channel does not exceed 3.5 km, and after
making allowances for
floods,
a bridge length of 5 km was considered adequate. In
October 1995, one year after the commencement of
physical work of the bridge, a bridge length of 4.8 km,
instead of a flood-width of the river at 14 km, was
finalised. This narrowing was essential to keep the
overall project cost within economic viability. It has,
however, required considerable river training work to
keep the river under the bridge. To withstand predicted scourge and
possible
earthquakes,
the bridge is supported on 80-85 m long and 2.5 m and
3.15 m diameter steel piles, which were driven by
powerful (240-ton) hydraulic hammer. The superstructure
of the bridge is pre-cast segments erected by the
balanced cantilever method. Basic features of the bridge
are: length (main part) - 4.8 km; width - 18.5 metre;
spans - 49; deck segments - 1263; piles - 121; piers -
50; road lanes - 4; railway tracks - 2. The people and the successive
governments in this part of the subcontinent always
longed to bridging the mighty Jamuna and thereby
integrate the communication systems of the region.
Popular leader
abdul hamid khan
bhasani first raised the demand for
construction of the Jamuna bridge at a political level
in 1949. In the 1954 provincial elections of East
Pakistan, the 21-point manifesto of the
united front
contained a demand for the bridge. On 6 January 1964,
Mohammad Saifur Rahman, a member from
rangpur
in the Provincial Assembly inquired about government's
intentions with regard to the construction of a bridge
over the Jamuna. On 11 July 1966, Shamsul Haque, another
member from Rangpur in the same Assembly, moved a
resolution for the construction of the bridge and the
house adopted it unanimously.Accordingly, a preliminary
feasibility study was carried out in 1969 by Freeman Fox
and Partners of UK. They recommended a rail-cum-road
bridge near Sirajganj with an estimated cost of $175
million. The estimates were preliminary in nature and a
more detailed study was recommended. On the other hand,
in his address to the nation over radio and television
on the eve of general election in Pakistan in 1970, the
awami league
leader
sheikh mujibur
rahman mentioned the construction of Jamuna
Bridge as an election pledge of his party. But all
efforts were interrupted due to political unrest and
liberation war.After the independence of Bangladesh,
the new government publicly stated its intention in 1972
to construct a bridge over the Jamuna and budgetary
provisions were kept for the purpose in the 1972-73
budget. On being invited by the Bangladesh government,
the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
undertook a feasibility study in 1973 on the
construction of a road-cum-rail bridge over the Jamuna. The JICA study, completed in 1976,
concluded that the Jamuna project would cost $683
million with an economic rate of return (ERR) of only
2.6%. Considering that the project is not technically
and economically viable, the government had abandoned
the project. The government had, however, revived it
later in 1982 and commissioned a new study to determine
the feasibility of transferring natural gas to western
parts of the country across the Jamuna. The study
concluded that an independent gas connector was not
economically viable. However, the consultants made an
assessment of the engineering feasibility and cost of a
combined road-cum-gas transmission bridge, which
introduced the concept of a multipurpose bridge. It was
estimated that a 12-km long bridge with three road lanes
would cost $420 million. Upon consideration of the
report, the cabinet made a decision to take immediate
steps in pursuit of the project. The Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge
Authority (JMBA) was set up by an ordinance promulgated
by the President on 3 July 1985 to implement the
project. For mobilisation of domestic resources, another
ordinance was promulgated by which a Jamuna Bridge
surcharge and levy were introduced. A total of Tk 5.08
billion was mobilised in the process till its abolition.In 1986, phase-I feasibility study
for the bridge was carried out when the site between
Sirajganj and Bhuapur (Tangail) was found to be the
best. Between 1987 and 1989, the phase-II feasibility
study was carried out when a road-cum-rail-cum-power
bridge was found both economically and technically
viable. Funding arrangements for the bridge were finally
made with IDA, ADB and OECF of Japan by the government
of Bangladesh in 1992. Tenders were invited through
international bidding for construction contracts in
1993. Contracts for the bridge, river training works and
two approach roads were awarded in March 1994. The
foundation stone of the bridge was laid on 10 April
1994. Physical implementation of the project commenced
on 15 October 1994, and all the components except gas
transmission line were completed by June 1998. The
bridge was opened for traffic on 23 June 1998. |
