A Roads and Highways Department project, which set a rare example being complete on time and saving around Tk 1,400 crore from its budget, has received a prestigious Japanese award.

Technology Award of Japan Society of Civil Engineers Award 2021 was conferred to the project under which three new bridges were constructed and three old bridges were repaired on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, Roads and Highways Department (RHD) officials said yesterday.

The project officials completed the construction of three bridges in May 2019 and repaired three old ones by December 2019 on the Shitalakkhya, the Meghna and the Gumti rivers.

The project, titled "Kanchpur, Meghna and Gumti 2nd Bridge Construction and Existing Bridges Rehabilitation Project", had a deadline of December 2019.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Bangladesh in a Facebook post yesterday congratulated the RHD, contractors and everyone else who had contributed to the project.

"Kanchpur, Meghna and Gumti 2nd Bridges Construction Project has won the Technology Award of JSCE (Japan Society of Civil Engineers) Award 2021, as an epoch-making project…" the post reads.

Project Director Abu Saleh Md Nuruzzaman said the modern technologies being used in those bridges have never been used outside of Japan. Besides, the project was done before its deadline at a cost lower than its allocation.

These are the factors that contributed to the winning of the award, he told The Daily Star last night.

RHD Chief Engineer Abdus Sabur said, "Receiving such an award from Japan is a matter of pride for us."

He said the project fell into uncertainty after the Holey Artisan attack in July 2016.

However, the law enforcers ensured proper security and the departments involved provided due support, helping the project to be complete on time and save money, he added.

As per the Development Project Proposal (DPP), the cost of the project was set at Tk 8,486.94 crore, of which Jica was supposed to provide Tk 6,429.29 crore.

"But on completion of the project, the cost stood at Tk 7,098.73 crore, meaning we have saved around Tk 1,388 crore," Nuruzzaman, also an additional chief engineer of RHD, told The Daily Star in February 2021.

Before the construction of the three new bridges, motorists often suffered in tailbacks on the 192km highway -- the busiest in the country -- for up to eight to 12 hours due to the bottlenecks near the old bridges.

Travel time reduced significantly since the bridges have been opened to traffic, the chief engineer said yesterday.