Metro rail work to partially demolish Purbachal Expressway

The construction of the new metro rail line on the Purbachal route will require partial demolition of several sections of the Purbachal Expressway from Kuril to Kanchan Bridge.

One lane on each side of the expressway will also be closed during the work.

However, since three lanes on each side will remain open, traffic movement is not expected to be disrupted.

These details were outlined in a media statement issued by Md Abul Kashem Bhuiyan, project director of MRT Line-1, on Wednesday.

Speaking to bdnews24.com about the remaining work on MRT-1, the project director said, “The land development work for our depot is nearly complete. Infrastructure construction there will begin at the start of the next fiscal year.

"We hope to start metro rail construction on the Purbachal Expressway by the end of this year after completing the contractor selection process for the main alignment.”

According to the statement, the MRT Line-1 project consists of two sections—an underground metro rail and an elevated metro rail.

The section from Kuril to Kanchan Bridge will be an elevated structure.

The elevated section will be built along the median of the Purbachal Expressway to avoid damaging any part of the road.

Piers will be placed at distances of 30 metres and 45 metres along the road divider, and viaducts will be installed on top of these piers.

The statement also said the elevated metro rail stations will be constructed on three columns placed across the road.

Two of these columns will be positioned in the greenbelt areas on either side of the expressway, while the middle column will be built on the road divider.

As a result, the stations will not occupy any part of the expressway's main road.

The project director noted that there are five intersections on the expressway, each with a water reservoir beneath it.

During the dry season, the roof of these reservoirs, which serves as the road pavement, will be cut open for piling work.

Once the work is completed, the metro rail project will repair the affected sections.

The statement also said no piers will be placed over the five underpasses along the expressway, ensuring that they remain undamaged.

For safety reasons, three metres of space on either side of the road divider will be used during the construction of piers and viaducts.

This will lead to the temporary closure of one lane on each side, but the lanes will be reopened once construction is completed.

MRT-1 spans 19.872 kilometres from Dhaka’s airport to Kamalapur and 11.369km from Notun Bazar to Pitalganj in Rupganj via Kuril Bishwa Road.

The project includes 12 underground metro rail stations from the airport to Kamalapur and two underground and seven elevated stations from Notun Bazar to Pitalganj.

Work on the project began on Feb 2, 2023.

The depot construction in Pitalganj started on Mar 1, 2024, with 89 percent of that section’s work completed.

The process of selecting contractors for the remaining parts of the project is currently underway, according to the project report.