Bangladesh’s unique geographic landscape is a low-lying delta with many rivers and tributaries, hence known as the land of rivers, making it flood-prone and vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Besides its many rivers and lakes, the country has a small hilly region crossed by swiftly flowing rivers.
Most of the country is agricultural, with rice as the main crop, but rapid urbanization is turning these rice paddies into industrial and commercial development.
However, the country has been plagued with infrastructure problems and challenges partly due to its landscape and the impacts of extreme events and climate change. These landscape challenges require navigating through one or more rivers or lakes from point A to B. It is easy to see how these challenges can hinder their development.
Infrastructure bottlenecks are among the most significant inhibitors of economic growth in Bangladesh. According to the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangladesh must invest nearly $25 billion annually through 2030 to meet its infrastructure needs (Infrastructure Development, 2022).
Bangladesh infrastructure investments
The Padma Bridge is Bangladesh’s longest bridge in terms of span and total length. It also has the deepest pile depth of any bridge in the world at 127 meters.
The bridge’s construction spanned decades and was surrounded by political controversies and allegations of corruption, leading to the withdrawal of the World Bank, ADB, and JICA of its committed funding. In response, the Bangladesh government took the initiative to finance the project and entrusted the construction to a Chinese firm, Major Bridge Engineering Company Ltd, in 2014.
The construction of the main bridge and other components commenced in November 2014 and was opened to the public on 25 June 2022 (Zaman, 2023).
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel is the nation’s first road tunnel, costing around US$1.1B, of which around half (US$500 million) is loaned by Exim Bank of China. The tunnel runs 3.32 kilometers (2.06 mi) under the Karnaphuli River, and an estimated 17,000 vehicles can use it daily. Construction of the tunnel began in 2016 and was inaugurated on 28 October 2023 by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (Shakhawat, 2023).
Investing in ports is also essential to Bangladesh’s trade and economy. As of 2020, Bangladesh’s ports handled about $60 billion in exports, with ship arrivals increasing 11% yearly. However, many of its ports are too shallow to hold the container capacity to keep up with the trade and growing scale of container ships.
Dredging these ports means that the country’s ports could handle more and bigger container ships, easing dependence on India or Sri Lanka’s ports. Bigger container ships dock in these two countries and collect and unload goods to and fro Bangladesh using lighter vessels.
Bangladesh’s investment in the new Matarbari deep-sea port, expected to be completed at the end of 2026, could increase Bangladesh’s GDP by more than 1%, decreasing import costs by 15% and export costs by 10%.
“We expect the port will handle around 10 million tons of cargo annually in the initial phase, increasing to 40 million tons in the long term,” explains project director Mohammed Zafar Alam. “This will significantly reduce transportation costs and increase trade efficiency for Bangladesh (From Bridges, 2024).
Rickshaws are a ubiquitous form of transportation in Bangladesh that comes in various shapes and sizes and carries goods and passengers. Human pedaling, fuel engines, or batteries power them. The latter is becoming more popular in recent times. The government is now trying to ban these vehicles from busy roads and highways because they are prone to accidents. (Masum, 2024).
Rickshaws often cut in front of faster vehicles and navigate turns unpredictably, causing confusion and increasing road risks, placing their passengers and drivers at risk as well as other road users (Masum, 2024).
With Bangladesh’s first EV manufacturing plant under development in Chattogram, which will manufacture sedans, SUVs, and buses, the country hopes to replace rickshaws with these locally-made EVs with the nation’s improved road and bridge infrastructure, setting the stage to accommodate the new wave of EVs which are safer and more sustainable than rickshaws and other fossil-fueled vehicles (Country’s first, 2023).
“Well-maintained roads and bridges reduce travel times, increase accessibility, and instill confidence among consumers regarding the reliability of EVs for long-distance travel,” explains Hafizur Rahman Khan, chairman of Bangladesh’s Runner Automobiles Plc. “This improved infrastructure also addresses concerns regarding range anxiety, a common barrier to EV adoption, by offering a network of routes with convenient charging facilities along the way” (From Bridges, 2024).
Bangladesh Lithium Battery Limited, a separate factory, will produce lithium batteries for electric vehicles and other sectors (Country’s first, 2023).
New roads and bridges call for infrastructure asset management
On a single day in October 2023, Bangladesh opened 150 bridges, the BBC reported, which, with sustained investments, could transform the land of rivers into a land of bridges.
Ensuring that these assets continue to deliver acceptable levels of service throughout and even exceed their life and that the government and the public get their investments back from these expensive infrastructures entails the application of asset management.
Infrastructure assets are often taken for granted until they fail, which can result in escalating repair and maintenance costs and costly replacements, and where most governments are hard-pressed to source funding.
Applying asset management principles and techniques can help Bangladesh manage its new and existing infrastructure assets strategically and systematically, improving service delivery, extending asset lifespan, reducing lifecycle costs, and minimizing the risks associated with asset failure.
Source:
From bridges and ports to a new regional hub. (2024). BBC. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/storyworks/capital/bangladesh-a-vision-realised/infrastructure-bangladesh
Infrastructure Development and Engineering Services. (2022, 20 July). International Trade Administration. Retrieved from https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/bangladesh-infrastructure-development-and-engineering-services-0
Zaman, M. (2023, July 2). Stories and impacts of Padma Bridge. The Daily Star. Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/stories-and-impacts-padma-bridge-3359321
Shakhawat, S. (2023, October 28). The inauguration of South Asia’s first underwater tunnel. The Daily Star. Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/supplements/bangabandhu-sheikh-mujibur-rahman-tunnel/news/the-inauguration-south-asias-first-underwater-tunnel-3454781
Masum, O. (2024, September 6). Battery-run rickshaws cause traffic chaos on return to Dhaka’s main roads. BDNews24.com. Retrieved from https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/53b0be060efd#:~:text=%22They%20not%20only%20cause%20traffic,to%20risks%2C%22%20he%20added.
Country’s first electric vehicle manufacturing plant underway in Chattogram. (2023, 16 September). The Daily Star. Retrieved from https://www.thedailystar.net/tech-startup/news/countrys-first-electric-vehicle-manufacturing-plant-underway-chattogram-3420211
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