Chinese Government provides 2 billion taka grant for 7th Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge Construction Project over the Arial Khan River

On July 28, 2009, the Chinese Government and the Government of Bangladesh signed an agreement at the Joint Economic Commission to build the 7th Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge. Then, the two governments signed an exchange of letters for the 7th Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge Construction Project on May 14, 2010. The 700 meters long and 13-meter wide bridge runs over the Arial Khan (Arialkha) river along the Dhaka-Barisal highway. It is located in Kazirtek (Kazirtack) within Madaripur District and about 115km far away from the capital Dhaka. The purpose of constructing the bridge, which is also known locally as Kazirtack Bridge (Bangla translation: কাজিরটেক ব্রীজ), was to ease travel between Dhaka and Barisal. Of the entire bridge construction cost (2,943,014,000 taka), approximately 2,001,183,600 taka was granted by the Chinese Government. Anhui Construction Engineering Group (ACEG) was responsible for project implementation. Construction began on May 1, 2012. Project completion was originally expected on June 30, 2016. However, the project was finished ahead of schedule, and the project handover ceremony was held on August 26, 2015. Its exact locational coordinates are available at https://www.google.com/maps/place/Asmot+Ali+Khan+Bridge/@23.1697927,90.2329958,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x37556de94d5e9c5f:0xefd0a5ccbaaeeb9d!8m2!3d23.1697878!4d90.2351845

Additional details

The grant funding for this project is assumed to be separate from the RMB 100 million grant from the Chinese Government— through an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) signed in 2009— that is described in Project ID #53972. The ETCA was signed in December 2009 and Bangladesh's Economic Relations Division indicates that no funding had been disbursed as of 2017, while the Chinese government committed to funding the 7th Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge in July 2009 and fully disbursed the funding. Note that the Government of Bangladesh also uses the following titles to describe this project: Asmot Ali Khan Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge over Arial Khan River of Madaripur (Mostafapur)-Shariatpur-Chandpur Road and 7th Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge (Kazirtack Bridge)-Over Arial Khan River with other Three Bridge at Madaripur(Mostafapur)-Shariatpur-Chandpur Road (Madaripur Part).

Number of official sources

14

Number of total sources

27