Chinese-built underwater tunnel nears completion in Bangladesh

The construction works of the much-awaited Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel, the first under-river tunnel in South Asia, is nearing completion.

The tunnel's project director Md Harunur Rashid was quoted by Bangladesh's official news agency BSS Thursday as saying that 96 percent of construction works have been completed on the tunnel under Karnaphuli River in the country's seaport city Chattogram, some 242 km southeast of the capital Dhaka.

He said the mechanical installation work is still going on, and the approach road construction works have already been completed.

According to the official, the construction works of the cross passage and tunnel related to the toll plaza are also nearing completion.

Mechanical, electrical and civil works of the tunnel are ongoing and other related work is also at the final stage, Rashid said, adding that he hoped the construction works of the tunnel will be finished within the stipulated time.

The length of the tunnel will be 3.40 km with an approach road of 5.35 km alongside a 727-meter bridge linking the main city, port and the western side of the river with its eastern side.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction work of the first tunnel tube on Feb. 24, 2019.

China Communications Construction Company Ltd. is working as the contractor for the project.

The tunnel will connect the proposed Asian Highway to Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox's Bazar Highway and will reduce the distance from Chattogram to the southeastern seabeach town Cox's Bazar by 40 km.

Vehicles in this tunnel will run at a speed of 80 km per hour, according to the project details.

The tunnel project is being implemented with joint funding from the governments of Bangladesh and China.

The tunnel has been built with preferential credit from the Export-Import Bank of China. The project has created more than 5,000 jobs so far, trained local people on infrastructure construction skills and promoted local economic development.

The tunnel will be the first under-river tunnel in South Asia. Extensive work is underway to complete the remaining 8 percent of the work.

The project is also the first large-diameter underwater shield tunnel undertaken by a Chinese company overseas.

Local and foreign engineers alongside workers are involved in the project.

The government led by Prime Minister Hasina took the initiative to build a tunnel under Karnaphuli River to connect parts of Chattogram to make the port city's "One-City-Two-Towns" model similar to the Chinese city of Shanghai.

According to a survey, before the construction of the tunnel, 6.3 million vehicles will be able to move through the tunnel annually, meaning that about 17,260 vehicles can run in a day. By 2025, an average of 28,305 vehicles will travel through Bangabandhu Tunnel every day.