Dhaka Elevated Expressway
Proposals sought from 4 bidders
Proposals sought from 4 bidders
The communications ministry yesterday informed the cabinet that it has sought proposals from four prequalified bidders to build the 21-km long Dhaka Elevated Expressway from Shahjalal International Airport to Demra.
The government aims at completing construction work of the expressway within December 2013.
The ministry early last month issued the Request for Proposal (RFP) to these four companies Italian-Thai Development Company (Italy-Thailand), Sikder Real Estate-KCC JV (Bangladesh-Korea), Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd-Boaygus Travaux Publics SA Consortium (India-France) and China Railway International Ltd (China).
The government aims at completing bid evaluation and sign agreement with the best bidder by December this year.
However, the primarily estimated cost of 2.5 billion dollars for the project has been criticised as being too high and experts say it should cost around half a billion dollars.
The four-lane expressway would be built by mainly using land owned by the government — especially Bangladesh Railway. There will be minimal need to acquire fresh land for this expressway that offers scope for expansion to Ramna and Mirpur.
This route would save at least one hour travel time between the airport and Demra and will provide immediate relief to the majority traffic congestion of central Dhaka.
At the Mohakhali flyover, the expressway would run along the median of Shaheed Tazuddin Road through the Tejgaon Industrial Area. After crossing the creek, the expressway would rejoin the rail corridor through Moghbazar to then join up with Syedabad Road.
Along Syedabad Road, the expressway would be located between the road and the rail corridor reducing the interaction with the Khilgaon flyover.
The expressway could then continue along the rail corridor to the Kamalapur Railway Station and container terminal. South of Kamalapur Station, the expressway curves to the east passing south of Kamalapur Stadium. The route then passes through the water catchment area and Syedabad Water Treatment Plant, turns south and connects with Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.
While this expressway route would not link places like Dhanmondi or Mohammadpur, it proposes two additional extensions. The first one is a 1.8 km long extension through the Tejgaon industrial area to Farmgate. The second one is 3.4 km long starting near Panthapath and traversing the water catchment area south of Hotel Sonargaon, then following the Sonargaon Road from New Eskaton9 Road to Buet.
