The Karnaphuli Bridge-III on the River Karnaphuli opens to traffic today connecting vast areas of southern Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban with rest of the country, ending miseries of the commuters of the region.
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, will formally inaugurate the long-awaited bridge, the longest in Chittagong division, this morning, sources at the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed.
During her Chittagong visit, the prime minister is also scheduled to inaugurate a 150MW peaking power plant at Shikalbaha at 11:30am.
Hasina will fly for the port city from air force’s Dhaka base by a helicopter at 10:00am, said a PMO official.
Before inaugurating the Karnaphuli Bridge at 13:15pm, the prime minister will attend a public rally organised by Chittagong Awami League in the city’s Maijjartek area.
She would inaugurate the operation of the Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company.
The prime minister is also scheduled to open the newly-built court building in the afternoon.
The Karnaphuli Bridge is likely to play a vital role in spurring economic activities in the areas, officials said.
The 950-metre long and 24.47-metre wide Karnaphuli Bridge-III — a long-cherished dream of Chittagonians — was scheduled to be completed by September 2009 with 38 months estimated for the implementation of the project.
The existing dilapidated century-old Kalurghat rail-road bridge and renovated Shah Amanat Bridge could hardly cope with the unending flow of vehicular traffic to maintain road communications with the southern region of Chittagong division.
The Karnaphuli Bridge-III project was taken in 2000 and then prime minister Khaleda Zia laid the foundation of the project on April 19, 2003.
Nearly three years had been spent only for mobilising funds for the bridge project. Finally, China Major Bridge Company was given the work order on March 2006 for the implementation of the project.
The design of the bridge had been finalised taking into account the geographical uniqueness, particularly the possible impacts like siltation in the Chittagong port channel.
The bridge can neither be called exclusively of concrete pillars or a hanging one, as it has been designed with the help of the reputed experts taking into consideration the possible navigability threat in the port channel as well as danger from natural disasters like cyclone.
Based on modern technology, the seven-pillar cable-strayed bridge is a unique one in the country.
