B Mirror Report: The government has approved a total of Tk 396.71 crore for constructing a bridge over the Surma River in Sunamganj, rehabilitating roads and other infrastructure damaged by the 2022 floods, and increasing the cost of a railway overpass project in the Kushtia-Chuadanga-Jhenaidah corridor.
The approvals were given at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase, chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury at the Secretariat on Wednesday.
Of the total allocation, Tk 264 crore will be spent on constructing a 277-metre bridge over the Surma River in Jamalganj, Sunamganj, under the government-funded Haor Area Elevated Roads and Physical Infrastructure Development project.
The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) will implement the bridge project.
The project also includes about 998 metres of elevated and connecting roads on both sides of the bridge. The bridge will be a cantilever structure.
A joint venture has been recommended for the work following a technical evaluation under an open tender process. The proposal was previously placed before the government purchase committee, which recommended forming a committee to review the matter. It was later resubmitted based on the committee’s findings and a report from the Institute of Water Modelling.
The project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on November 23, 2023, with an implementation period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2027.
The committee also approved Tk 123.21 crore for the urgent rehabilitation and reconstruction of roads, bridges and culverts in Sunamganj and Habiganj that were damaged by the devastating floods in 2022.
The Roads and Highways Department will implement the work under a project of the Road Transport and Highways Division.
Thirteen firms participated in the open tender, of which nine proposals were found technically and financially responsive. Based on the evaluation committee’s recommendation, the contract has been proposed to be awarded to the lowest bidder, Kamrul & Brothers.
The work includes earth filling, widening of existing paved roads, construction of concrete roads, RCC drains and protective structures using concrete blocks at various sections of the Sarail-Nasirnagar-Lakhai-Habiganj road.
The project was approved by ECNEC on September 12, 2023, and is scheduled to run from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2026.
The committee also approved an additional Tk 9.50 crore for variation work on the Railbazar Railway Overpass at kilometre 81 of the Kushtia-Trimohoni-Meherpur-Chuadanga-Jhenaidah regional highway.
The additional expenditure will raise the project’s contract value from Tk 64 crore to Tk 73.50 crore.
The Roads and Highways Department signed a Tk 64 crore contract with National Development Engineers Ltd on June 7, 2023, to implement the project.
During construction, the quantities of six tendered items increased and three new items were added. At Bangladesh Railway’s request, the vertical clearance was increased by 1.30 metres, resulting in a one-metre increase in the height of the bridge foundation.
The length of the approach road also increased from 330 metres to 432 metres, while the quantities of retaining walls and other works increased.
The variation amounts to 14.844% of the original contract value. The first revision of the project was approved by ECNEC on January 15, 2026. The project is scheduled to run from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2027.
Overall, the approved spending will support new bridge and road infrastructure in the haor region, rehabilitation of flood-damaged facilities and improvements to a key regional highway through the construction of a railway overpass.
