Teesta Bridge to open Saturday

The Teesta Bridge, constructed over the Teesta River to connect Kurigram and Gaibandha districts, will be opened for public and vehicular movement on Saturday.

Uzzal Chowdhury, executive engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in Gaibandha, confirmed the development.

The 1,490-meter bridge, one of the largest ever constructed by LGED, stretches between Horipur Kheyaghat under Sundarganj upazila in Gaibandha and Chilmari Kheyaghat under Kurigram district. 

According to sources, the bridge will reduce travel distance between the two districts by over 100 kilometres.

A Chinese contractor is building the PC girder bridge with financial assistance from the Saudi Development Foundation. The total construction cost stands at Tk 730 crore 85 lakh.

Of this, Tk 279 crore 47 lakh was spent on building the main bridge, Tk 10 crore 25 lakh on approach road construction, Tk 8 crore 55 lakh on river management, and Tk 6 crore on land acquisition.

The bridge has 30 pillars, with 28 located within the river and 2 on the outer banks. River control measures span 3.15 kilometres on both sides of the bridge.

Additionally, a total of 57.3 kilometres of roads will be constructed on either side of the bridge - 7.3 km from Chilmari Matikata Junction to the bridge, and 50 km from Dhaperhat under Sadullapur upazila to Haripur Bridge.

Sources further said the bridge is expected to play a significant role in improving the transportation of agricultural products to Rangpur city, as well as Kurigram and Gaibandha towns. This will help farmers market their produce in time, boosting their incomes and contributing to improved socio-economic conditions in the region.