Meghna Bridge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Meghna Bridge
Meghna Bridge
Official name Japan Bangladesh Friendship Bridge 1
Carries Motor vehicles and pedestrians
Crosses Meghna River
Locale Bangladesh
Design Cantilever bridge
Longest span 87 metres (285 ft 5 in)
Total length 900 metres (2,952 ft 9 in)
Width 9.2 metres (30 ft 2 in)
Opening date February 1, 1991

Meghna Bridge is a road bridge in Bangladesh.[1] It was built by assistance of Japan and officially named Japan Bangladesh Friendship Bridge 1, but it is popularly known as Meghna Bridge.[2] According to a study conducted in 2004 by the Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh, residents living around the Meghna Bridge recognized several positive impacts after the construction of the bridge.[3]

Contents

[edit] Location

Meghna Bridge is situated 40 km south east of Dhaka[2] across the Meghna River,[4][5] which is one of the major rivers in the country.[4] The bridge is located along the Dhaka Chittagong Highway.[2] The geographical coordinate of the Meghna Bridge is 23° N 90° E.[4]

[edit] History

Meghna Bridge was built with the financial help from the Government of Japan.[6][7] It was constructed by the Nippon Koei Co. Ltd.,[1] which is an independent engineering consulting firm in Japan and has been involved in various projects in more than eighty countries.[8] The bridge was opened on February 1, 1991.[6] A total of $7.9 billion was spent on the construction of the bridge.[9] Meghna Bridge is the single largest project with Japanese assistance in the world.[9]

In 2005, the bridge underwent extensive repair because the expansion joints of the bridge were damaged due to the lack of appropriate maintenance.[6]

[edit] Architecture

Meghna Bridge is a cantilever[1] and girder bridge.[10] It is 900 metres (2,952 ft 9 in) in length and 9.2 metres (30 ft 2 in) in width.[10] The bridge has thirteen spans.[10] Two among the individual spans are of 24.25 metres (79 ft 7 in) in length each, one is of 48.3 metres (158 ft 6 in) in length, nine spans are of 87 metres (285 ft 5 in) in length each and the length of the rest is 18.2 metres (59 ft 9 in).[10] The carriage way of the bridge is 7.2 metres (23 ft 7 in).[10] The foundations are supported on RCC caissons and piles.[10] Piled foundation of abutments are buried.[10] RCC caissons which are used as foundation under the piers are also buried.[10] Both abutments and the piers of the bridge are RCC solid type.[10] The piers of the bridge are hexagonal in shape.[4] Each pier is of 11 metres (36 ft 1 in) in length and 3.2 metres (10 ft 6 in) in width.[4]

The wing walls of the bridge are of RCC and are fixed with abutments and have no weep holes.[10] Railing type of the bridge is of R.C.C post and steel rail.[10] The bridge has 0.80 metres (2 ft 7 in) wide sidewalk at both sides.[10] Meghna Bridge also has infrastructure of drainage.[10]

[edit] Economic impact

Traffic volumes across the Meghna River and of National Highway No.1 significantly increased after the opening of the Meghna Bridge.[3] In April 1997, a average of 10,149 vehicles of all types used the bridge in each 24 hour period while in March 2004, a total of 9,704 different vehicles per day crossed the bridge.[3] The reason behind this fall in traffic volume is attributed to increase in toll rate in 2002 and seasonal fluctuations.[3] Below is a comparison of different vehicles used the bridge per day in April 1997 and March 2004:

Vehicle[3] Truck[3] Bus[3] Light Vehicle[3] Motorcycle[3] Total[3]
April 1997 4,674 3,396 1,796 283 10,149
March 2004 4,310 3,887 1,030 477 9,704

The survey conducted in 2004 by the Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh found that, majority of the users of the bridge believe that the construction of Meghna Bridge improved the daily life of the people living near the bridge and the surrounding area of the bridge has been urbanized.[3] The people surveyed also opined that the number of traffic blockage caused by bad weather has been decreased since the construction of the bridge.[3] The survey also found that 42% of the trucks using Meghna Bridge transport goods between Dhaka and Chittagong.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Meghna Bridge in the Structurae database
  2. ^ a b c Impact of major floods on the river morphology at the vicinity of bridges in Bangladesh
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m The basic study on the present situation of the previous grant aid project for the bridges in Bangladesh Embassy of Japan in Bangladesh
  4. ^ a b c d e Morphological Characteristics Of The River Meghna: A Collaborative Study Water Resources Research Centre, Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University
  5. ^ Padma Multipurpose Bridge Design Project Asian Development Bank
  6. ^ a b c Ferry service on Dhaka-Ctg highway from Sept 10 The Daily Star
  7. ^ Yen Loans for Constructing Access Roads to the Jamuna Bridge Japan Bank for International Cooperation
  8. ^ Nippon Koei Co. Ltd. Engineering and Consulting Firms Association (ECFA), Japan
  9. ^ a b Nagendra K. Singh (2003). Encyclopaedia of Bangladesh. Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., p293. ISBN 8126113901. 
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Principal Bridge Inspection Report Roads and Highways Department, Ministry of Communications, Bangladesh
v • d • e
Bridges in Bangladesh

Bhairab Railway Bridge · Bhairab Road Bridge · Hardinge Bridge · Jamuna Bridge · Lalon Shah Bridge · Marikhali Bridge · Meghna Bridge · Meghna-Gomti Bridge · Rupsha Bridge