The construction work of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge over the Jamuna River is expected to start in December this year with a significant rise in overall project cost, sources said.
Bangladesh Railway (BR) has almost finalised the selection of two contractors to carry out the construction work of a 4.8-kilometre dedicated rail bridge at higher cost than that of tender cost, they added.
Though BR has yet to complete the financial evaluation of technically-selected contractors under two packages, sources said, both offers are higher than tender price due to a change in the proposal for constructing the bridge in steel instead of concrete.
As almost all construction payments will have to be made in dollar due to foreign contractors, they said, the cost will go up for a variation in the dollar rate from the DPP stage to the construction period.
According to the development project proposal (DPP), the project cost was estimated at Tk 97.34 billion and the dollar rate was quoted at Tk 77.80, almost nine-percentage higher than the DPP rate.
Officials said the DPP of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge project, approved in 2017, was prepared based on a feasibility study which was conducted in 2015 with financial support of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
After Japan International Cooperation Agency's (JICA) engagement with the project, they said, the study was revised with change in detailed design for updating it with steel in the context of 100-year longevity.
The country's longest railway bridge known as Bangabandhu Bridge has been planned parallel to the existing road-cum-rail bridge over the Jamuna River. It is located in between important regional corridors including Trans-Asia Railway.
It has also been designed to have dual-gauge double-line track to accommodate more traffic for setting up links with neighbouring countries such as India, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar.
Trains cannot run on the existing road-cum-rail bridge, designed with single-line metre-gauge, at normal speed as the bridge has not been designed exclusively for rail.
According to sources, three Japanese joint venture firms participated in the tender of both packages which was opened in February last. These firms are Obayashi Toa JFE joint venture, IHI-SMCC joint venture and Tekken YBC joint venture.
The project office said work on two packages has been divided into east and west of the bridge which will have a 30-kilometre approach line, two stations and small bridges.
Project Director Quamrul Ahsan told the FE that they have planned to complete the construction work within four years.
He, however, said the selection of the contractors will be finalised after getting approval from the cabinet committee on government purchase.
JICA has already committed Tk 77.24 billion for the project. For the first phase, a loan deal was signed in 2018.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge was one of the proposed projects under Japan-Bangladesh comprehensive partnership deal signed between the prime ministers of the two countries in 2014.
