Chinese companies contracted to undertake 1st microtunneling sewerage project in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- A joint venture of Chinese companies has been contracted to renovate a key part of the Pagla sewage treatment plant here through the microtunneling technique, the first project to use such a method in Bangladesh.

The design and build contract was signed on Tuesday with Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA), under which the joint venture led by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) is expected to design and construct a 12.2-km-long trunk main sewer and one sewage pumping station covered under the WD2 section of the Dhaka Sanitation Improvement Project.

Out of the 12.2-km-long trunk main sewer, 5.97 km will be constructed by using the microtunneling technique, Rafiqul Islam, the project director, said at the contract signing ceremony.

"It will enable DWASA to access not only an improved sewage treatment facility, but also have a chance to equip all DWASA engineers with the fresh microtunneling technology," he added.

"This is the first time ever for Bangladesh to employ the microtunneling method in the sewer treatment projects."

The microtunneling technology is helpful in reducing the project construction's impact on traffic and the environment, as Dhaka is regarded as the most densely populated city in the world.

The sub-project to reconstruct the Pagla sewage treatment plant for the third time since it was built in 1968 is undertaken by CCECC and its partners, the SafBon Water Service (Holding) Inc. in Shanghai and the Shanghai Municipal Engineering Design Institute (Group) Co., Ltd.

The Chinese contract is one of the seven trunk main sewer sub-projects under the Dhaka Sanitation Improvement Project, which aims to provide enhanced safe sanitation services to 1.5 million citizens and is funded jointly by the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.