Photo : Courtesy
Bashundhara Cement, a product of Bashundhara Group, made up 95 per cent of the total cement used in the Dhaka Elevated Expressway.
The country’s first ever elevated expressway was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at 3:30 pm on Saturday.
However, traffic movement will begin from tomorrow (Sunday). In the first phase, it will be opened from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Farmgate in the capital.
Bashundhara Group is proud to be supplying 95 per cent of cement to this mega project. Khandker Kingshuk Hossain, Chief Marketing Officer at Bashundhara Cement, recently confirmed it in an interview.
Bashundhara Group supplied 95 per cent of the cement used in the construction of Dhaka's first elevated expressway, he claimed.
Besides, the largest business conglomerate has supplied bitumen for the entire project, he said.
“Traffic congestion is the most painful of all the problems of the capital. Due to unbearable traffic jams in the capital, the country is also experiencing economic losses. Dhaka Elevated Expressway will resolve the problem.”
Dhaka Elevated Expressway is 19.73 kilometres long. From Kawla (near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport), the expressway will pass through Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Kamalapur and will end at Kutubkhali area on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway near Jatrabari. The total length of the elevated expressway, including ramps, is 46.73 km.
Kingshuk said cement and bitumen are the main components of the construction worth Tk 9,000 crore. Bashundhara Group has supplied about 95 per cent of cement and bitumen for the construction of this project. Bashundhara had also supplied major chunks of cement for the Padma Bridge earlier. The industrial conglomerate supplied around eight lakh tonnes of cement for this project.
A foreign company is entrusted with the construction of the elevated expressway project. Replying to a query why Bashundhara Cement was chosen, he said, “In a big project, the quality of raw materials and the company's ability to supply cement are considered. Apart from this, a lot depends on logistics capacity and marketing strategies.”
Large projects require an uninterrupted supply of quality materials, he said, adding Elevated Expressway and Padma Bridge-like infrastructures need different types of cement which can be supplied by a potential company only.
Explaining two types of cement, Portland Composite Cement (PCC) and Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), he said OPC contains 95 per cent clinker and about one per cent gypsum and PCC contains relatively less clinker.
Bashundhara Group supplies cement depending on project requirements and project engineers check every shipment of cement, he opined.
The project authorities used Bashundhara cement because of quality, says Kingshuk. “All types of cement production facilities are available at Bashundhara Group plants. We can manufacture cement as per the requirement of any project.”
Elaborating on the projects, he said Bashundhara cement has been exclusively used in Padma Main Bridge, Padma Rail Link Project, Metro Rail Project and Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway project.
The entire approach road of the Padma Bridge project used 100 per cent Bashundhara cement. We have 14 cement silos for river management at both ends of Jazira and Mawa. The railway link from Padma Bridge to Jashore is being totally constructed with Bashundhara cement.
Other projects where Bashundhara cement is used are Padma river training, approach road, Rooppur nuclear power plant, Matarbari thermal power plant, Payra bridge, Rupsha rail bridge, and Rampal power plant, he added.
Messenger/Sajib
