A Roads and Highways Department (RHD) project, which has already set a rare example by completing three major bridges on Dhaka-Chattogram Highway on time and saving around Tk 1400 crore, has received a prestigious award from Japan.

"The project won a prestigious award--Technology Award of Japan Society of Civil Engineers Award 2021, from Japan, which has funded the project," RHD officials said today.

Under the project, three new bridges were constructed and three old bridges on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway were repaired.

The project authority had completed the construction of the new bridges on the Shitalakkhya, the Meghna and the Gumti rivers within May 2019 and completed repair work of the old bridges by December that same year.

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

JICA Bangladesh also posted on their Facebook page today, congratulating RHD, contractors and others 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 that has made a remarkable construction to the development of civil engineering technology and it is recognised as having contribution to the development of the society," the post reads.

Project Director Abu Saleh Md Nuruzzaman said the modern technologies being used in those bridges are the first outside Japan. Besides, the project was completed within time and by saving money.

All these are contributing factors to the award, he told The Daily Star tonight.

RHD's 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 terror attack in July 2016.

But law enforcers gave required security and all sectors involved provided all out support that helped complete the project on time saving 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 Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) was supposed to provide Tk 6,429.29 crore.

"But after completion of all work, the project 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 2019.

Before the construction of the three new bridges, travelers and truckers would find themselves stuck on the 192km highway -- the busiest in the country -- for up to eight to 12 hours due to the bottleneck near the old bridges.

But travel time reduced significantly after the bridges were opened for public, the chief engineer said today.