Chittagong Karnaphuli River Tunnel (Construction)

Description

The Karnaphuli River Tunnel in the port of Chittagong, Bangladesh is a proposed 3.4 kilometer-long, 10 meter-wide tunnel under the river. The project includes approximately 6 kilometers of connecting roads, and will connect the port of Chittagong to the industrial area of the city to relieve pressure on the three existing bridges. Sedimentation issues precluded the possibility of building an additional bridge. The tunnel is expected to be completed in 2021, and will be the first of its kind in Bangladesh.

The tunnel is expected to improve the Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway network and will connect to the Asian Highway Network. The China Communications Constructions Company will do much of the construction, and Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the inauguration of the project in 2016.

In June 2015, the Bangladeshi Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges signed an agreement with CCCC to build the tunnel, in November 2015 the ECNEC approved the project, in May 2017 COWI, a Danish company, was appointed to provide the design and construction management, and construction started in August 2017. This project is part of One Belt One Road Initiative.

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