Bangabandhu Bridge Bangladesh | Jamuna Railway Bridge (যমুনা সেতু): At present, Sheikh Hasina, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh is adopting various plans for the development of Bangladesh. One of them is the construction of a separate railway bridge over the river Jamuna. The Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the laying of the foundation stone of the bridge through a video conference on November 29, 2020. At present there are more than three thousand railway bridges in Bangladesh.
Most of these are small. However, the 100-year-old Hardinge Bridge over the Padma Bridge in Pakshi of Pabna district is still considered to be the largest railway bridge in the country. But if the Bangabandhu Railway Bridge over the Jamuna River is completed, it will be the largest railway bridge in the country. The future, Bangladesh is planning to join the Trans-Asian Railway Network. In that case, the bridge over the river Jamuna is expected to help create that connection. In today’s post, we will discuss about the railway bridge being built over the river Jamuna.
Necessity for construction of Jamuna railway bridge
Originally, construction work on a completely separate railway bridge over the river Jamuna has been started to reduce the pressure on the existing Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge. It will be the largest railway bridge in the country. A dual gauge double line railway bridge is being constructed 300 meters upstream of Bangabandhu Bridge. For this, there is no need to rule a separate river, and land acquisition will not be necessary too much. According to the 2020 census, Amount of 44 trains run daily through the Bangabandhu Bridge.
The bridge is not able to run the train at full speed. As it is a single-track railway, it takes more time to cross the bridge. A train traveling at a maximum speed of 20 kmph takes about 30 minutes to reach the station on one side of the bridge. As a result, trains are at risk of schedule disruptions. In addition, heavy goods trains are unable to operate due to weight limit on the bridge. With the launch of the Bangabandhu Railway Bridge, it will take an average of 2 hours to reach the destinations of trains running in the north and west of the country along with the capital Dhaka.
In addition, the bridge will be useful for transporting passengers and goods in less time and easily on internal routes. In addition, the use of railways will increase the benefits of importing and exporting goods from neighboring countries. The bridge will be useful for transporting passengers and goods in less time and easily on internal routes. In other words, the railway bridge will be considered an important link between SAARC, BIMSTEC, SASEC and other regional and sub-regional railway routes and Trans-Asian railway network. However, if the railway bridge is constructed, the railway of Bangabandhu bridge will not be used.
Project and financing of Jamuna Rail Bridge
The construction project of the bridge was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in 2016. For this, the government of Bangladesh undertook the project at a cost of Tk 9,634 crore. In recent times, Japan has been one of the largest donors to Bangladesh in terms of financing, technical assistance, infrastructure and equipment. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) (Japan International Cooperation Agency) said it would provide Tk. 7,724 crore. The Bangabandhu Rail Bridge project was supposed to be implemented by 2023. However, the revised project deadline was later extended by two more years to December 2025. Besides, the cost of railway bridge construction project has been increased from Tk 9,734 crore to Tk 16,061 crore. JICA will provide loan assistance for 72% of the total cost of construction of the railway bridge.
The project will be implemented under the supervision of Bangladesh Railway. It is to be noted that the existing railway bridges have one line each. This bridge will have two railway lines.
Cnstruction strategy of Bangabandhu Rail Bridge
The project will be implemented in two separate packages. One of the two packapes is WD-1 package. That is the civil work of Bangabandhu Railway Bridge Construction Project Eastern. Another is package WD-2. This is the construction of Bangabandhu Railway Bridge in the western part of the civil work. The eastern part of the railway bridge will be constructed by three organizations namely Obayashi Corporation, TOA Corporation and JFE. The cost for the eastern part will be Tk 6,801 crore. On the other hand, the western part of the railway bridge will be constructed by a joint venture of IHI and SMCC. The western part of the railway bridge will cost Tk. 6, 148 crore.
Infrastructure of Jamuna Railway Bridge
The bridge will be a total of 4.6 km long. A total of about 30 km of railway will be constructed at both the ends of the railway bridge. The bridge will be constructed entirely of steel. About 50 pillars will be laid and the railway will be laid on concrete. The materials and technology that will be used to build this railway bridge are different from the existing railway bridges. Notably, there will be no slippers on the bridge. New technology such as rust and corrosion resistant weathering steel and accidental prevention guards will be used in the drill. The existing bridges have to be painted for two or three years in a row. This railway bridge will never have to be painted. Therefore, the maintenance cost of the bridge will almost zero.
The foundation of this bridge will be used by Japan in its own technology. This technology is rarely used outside of Japan. Special materials will be used to reduce the erosion of the railway lines due to wheel friction. The use period of the lines is considered to be thirty years, so the cost and time of changing the lines will be less. It will have dual gauge double-track railways. When the bridge is built, put it on broad-gauge trains will be able to travel at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour and meter-gauge trains will be able to travel at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour. As a result, a total of 88 trains will run daily on the bridge.
Bangladesh Jamuna Bridge
It is a matter of great pride to build such a mega construction in a middle income country like Bangladesh. Not only that, through the construction of the present Padma Bridge, Rooppur Parmanvik Power Station, construction of Cox’s Bazar rail link, the successful Bangabandhu satellite program etc., the people of Bangladesh will see a ultra modern Bangladesh in the near future.
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