Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel (Bengali: বঙ্গবন্ধু শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান টানেল), also known as Karnaphuli Tunnel, is an underwater expressway tunnel in the port city of Chittagong, Bangladesh under the Karnaphuli river. The length of the entire route is 9.39 kilometres (5.83 mi), with the tunnel making up 3.32 kilometres (2.06 mi) of the length. The tunnel diameter is 10.80 metres (35.4 ft). It is expected, over 17,000 vehicles will be able to use this tunnel daily.[1] The cost of the project is estimated at US$1.1B, of which around half is financed by the Exim Bank of China.[2][3] The Bangabandhu Tunnel is the first underwater road tunnel in South Asia.[4][5][3] It is expected to improve the Dhaka–Chittagong–Cox's Bazar highway network.[6][7][8] A Chinese company, China Communications Construction Company, was selected to construct it.[9] The tunnel segments were produced in Zhenjiang, China.[3]
 Nameplate at the entrance of the tunnel | |
  Location of the tunnel in Patenga To Anwara Upazila, Chattogram Division | |
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Other name(s) | Karnaphuli Tunnel |
| Location | Chittagong, Bangladesh |
| Coordinates | 22°13′49″N 91°48′16″E / 22.2304°N 91.8044°E |
| Status | Operational |
| Waterway | Karnaphuli River |
| Route | 2 |
| Start | South Patenga |
| End | Anwara Upazila |
| Operation | |
| Opened | October 28, 2023 |
| Owner | Government of Bangladesh |
| Traffic | 17,000 per day |
| Toll | ৳200-৳1,000 |
| Technical | |
| Design engineer | Chinese |
| Length | 3.32 km (9.39 km including approach road) |
| No. of lanes | 4 |
| Operating speed | Maximum 80 km/h |
| Width | 10.8 m |
| Depth of tunnel below water level | 18 to 31 m |
| Grade | A1 |
History
On October 14, 2016, Bangladesh Prime Minister and Chinese President Xi Jinping laid the foundation stone of the project.[10] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping inaugurated the construction site of the Bangabandhu Tunnel on 14 October 2017. Hasina officially inaugurated the construction of the tunnel and inaugurated the tunnel boring phase on February 24, 2019.[3][11] On Saturday 28 October 2023, Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Bangabandhu Tunnel and was made available for traffic from 6 am the next day.[1][12]
Financing
The construction of the tunnel cost ৳10374 crore (US$970 million).[11] In October 2016, during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Dhaka, the loan agreement for the construction of the Bangabandhu Tunnel was signed. According to the agreement, Exim Bank of China provided ৳5913 crore (US$550 million) as a 20-year loan at 2 percent interest rate. The rest of the funding was provided by the Bangladesh government.[13]
Toll chart
| Vehicle Type | Toll Rate (Tk) |
|---|---|
| Private Cars & Pick-up Trucks | 200 |
| Microbuses | 250 |
| Buses (< 31 seats) | 300 |
| Buses (32 seats or more) | 400 |
| Big Buses (3XL) | 500 |
| Trucks (up to 5 tonnes) | 400 |
| Trucks (8 tonnes) | 500 |
| Trucks (11 tonnes) | 600 |
| 3XL Trailer | 800 |
| 4XL Trailer | 1000 |
| Additional charge per XL | 200 |
Technologies
The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel has more than 100 cameras for security, capable of discerning license plate numbers.[15][16]