South Asia’s first underwater tunnel inaugurated in Bangladesh

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel, South Asia’s first underwater tunnel, was officially inaugurated on Saturday, October 28, with the Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, being the first to pay the toll and pass through it.

The tunnel is located under the Karnaphuli river, in the port city of Chittagong, which is officially known as Chattogram, and is Bangladesh’s second largest city by population.

It is an expressway tunnel measuring 3.43 kilometers (2.13 mi.) in length, along a total route of 9.39 kilometers (5.83 mi.)

The project came under joint funding from the Chinese and Bangladeshi governments, while it was Chinese-built.

Furthermore, the estimated budget reached $1.1 billion, while the construction site was inaugurated on October 14, 2017, and tunnel boring commenced on the 24^th of February 2019.

Md Harunur Rashid, the project’s director, noted that there were several challenges during construction, which included encountering hard soil after completing 5% of the north tunnel’s excavation, as well as a TBM shield defect at 50% completion.

He also stated that there was a focus on employing young and middle-aged local engineers, to gain skills and knowledge for the future.

Project manager Yu Jingtao also noted that despite the difficulties, the project was completed with high quality and efficiency, applying Chinese standards and technology, and providing their Bangladeshi counterparts with a technical guide to help improve the local transportation industry.

The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel is expected to significantly boost the area’s economy, as well as to connect the Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox's Bazar Highway with the proposed Asian Highway.