PM Hasina opens 150 bridges in a single day

In another development milestone Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday opened 150 newly constructed bridges in 39 districts and 14 newly constructed overpasses of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) simultaneously.

She also unveiled the foundation stones of the 1,100-metre Kewatkhali Bridge and 1,471-metre Rahmatpur Bridge over the Brahmaputra river in Mymensingh, while opening the newly constructed DTCA Bhaban for Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority, BRTA Automated Motor Vehicle Fitness Test Centre of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), BRTC Bus Depot and Training Centre of Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation as well as conferred the financial assistance to the road accident victims.

The premier inaugurated these infrastructures through a virtual platform from a programme in Sarak Bhaban in the capital city.

In less than one year since the simultaneous inauguration of 100 bridges across the country, the prime minister opened 150 more bridges  -- 40 bridges in Mymensingh Division, 32 in Dhaka Division, 27 in Chattogram, 22 in Rajshahi, 12 in Khulna, eight each in Barishal and Rangpur and one in Sylhet division.

The total length of the 150 bridges is 9.45km and the total length of 14 overpasses — eight in the Rajshahi Division and six in the Rangpur Division — is 689 meters.

The 1100-metre Kewatkhali bridge, which is set to be the largest steel-arch bridge in the country, will be constructed at a cost of Tk 3263.63 crore, while the 1471-metre Rahmatpur bridge will be constructed at a cost of Tk 358 crore by June 2025.

On 7 November 2022, PM Hasina opened the 100 bridges in 25 districts. The total length of the bridges was 5.5km.

Among the 150 bridges constructed with a total cost of Tk 3,287 crore, the notable ones include the Garakola and Nayarhat bridges in Gopalganj, Chapair bridge in Gazipur, Titas bridge in Brahmanbaria, Muhuri bridge in Feni, Matamuhuri bridge in Cox's Bazar, Machrong bridge in Barishal, Tulalampur bridge in Narail, Simakhali bridge in Magura, Arialkhar bridge in Bogura, Bahagili bridge in Nilphamari, Chatak-Surma bridge in Sylhet.

Eight of the new overpasses were constructed on the Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur Highway.