Development of Civil Engineering

and Engineering Education in Bangladesh

Presentation

by

Professor (Dr. Engr.) Jamilur Reza Choudhury

Vice Chancellor, University of Asia Pacific, Dhaka

Past President, Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh

at

Technical Session

Asian Civil Engineering Coordination Council (ACECC)

hosted by Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh at Dhaka

28 March , 2015

Outline of Presentation

Background

Early bridges

Infrastructure Challenges

Some recent major projects

Progress in disaster risk reduction

Engineering Education

• Background

• Current Scenario

The Country Scenario

Bangladesh population : 155 million

Density : 1,100 per sq. km.

Present urban population : around 30%

• increasing @ 4% per year

Population likely to stabilize around 250

million with density of 1,700 per sq. km.;

about 70% urban

Greater Dhaka city

• population around 16 million; area 1,528 sq.km.

• growing @ 5% per year

• Around 7% of the area in Bangladesh

• 57 transboundary rivers

Major Problems in Developing Infrastructure

Large number of rivers (around 1,000)

means that bridges have to be built every few kilometers

Soft alluvial soils

means foundations become expensive

Regular flooding

means roads and bridges have to be built at a higher level

Earthquakes, cyclones and storm surges

means structures have to built to resist these additional

forces

High density of population

means that land acquisition and resettlement become

expensive

Brick Arch Bridge over Dholai Khal,

Dhaka

c. late 18th century

Suspension Bridge, Dhaka

Sutrapur, Farashganj : built around 1830

Hardinge Bridge (1912-1915)

Double Track Railway, Broad Gauge

1.8 km long, 15 spans

Innovative river training works : Bell’s Guide Bund

with Falling Apron

Dawki Road Bridge on Sylhet Shillong Road (1932)

Road Network

• In 1947 only 600km

of narrow paved

roads existed

• Now it has grown to

271,000 km

Rail Network

First line in 1862

Route length 2,855 km

Problem with two

different gauges

-metre and

-broad (5 ft 6 in or 1,676mm)

Now many tracks have

dual gauges

River

Crossing

Towers of

East West

Electrical

Interconnector

• 12 km long

crossing over

Jamuna River

• 110m high

towers @

1.2km

spacing

• 13m dia. RC

Caisson

Foundations

80m deep

Bangabondhu (Jamuna) Bridge (1998)

Bridge Substructure

Cast in-situ

Concrete Pier

Stem

Precast Concrete

insitu filled Pile Cap

Tubular Structural

Steel Piles in-situ

concrete filled 2.5 -

3.15 m dia

Max Water

Level

Min Water

Level

Max Bed Level

Min Bed Level

Pile Toe Level

2 Pile Pier 3 Pile Pier

+ 16 m

+ 6 m

+/- 0 m

- 30 m

- 72 m

Pile

Length

83 m

Courtesy of MC

Shah Amanat Bridge

3rd Karnaphuli Bridge, Chittagong

1st Extradosed Bridge in Bangladesh

ELEVATION ON PROPOSED BRIDGESCALE 1:1250

PIER 9

200000

MEASURED ON BRIDGE CENTRELINE

PIER 8

MEASURED ON BRIDGE CENTRELINE

200000

PIER 10

115000

MEASURED ON BRIDGE CENTRELINEMEASURED ON BRIDGE CENTRELINE

115000 200000

MEASURED ON BRIDGE CENTRELINE

PIER 7PIER 2

ABUTMENT

16000

DHFL +4.30SLWL +0.40LLWL -1.57

SHWL +3.500.00 DATUM

COX'S BAZARCHITTAGONG

-65.00-65.00-65.00-65.00

-50.00 -50.00

76000

NAVIGATION CHANNEL

4No. 3m DIAMETER BORED

CAST IN-SITU PILES.

4No. 1.5m DIAMETER BORED

CAST IN-SITU PILES.

PIER 6PIER 5PIER 4PIER 3PIER 1

22000 22000 22000 22000 16000

4No. 1.5m DIAMETER BORED

CAST IN-SITU PILES PER PIER

76000

NAVIGATION CHANNEL

12No. 1.5m DIAMETER BORED

CAST IN-SITU PILES.

BEARINGSABUTMENTBEARINGS

EXPANSIONEXPANSIONEXPANSION

4No. 1.5m DIAMETER BORED

CAST IN-SITU PILES

JOINTJOINTJOINT

-50.00

ACCESS PLATFORMS AT

PIERS 6, 7, 8, 9 AND 10

Main Bridge Length : (115+ 3x200 + 115) = 830 m

Bridge Width 24.47m

(2 x 3 lanes + 1.5m pedestrian walkway on each side)

Main bridge and approach viaduct

-

-78 -69 -63-74

17

Asian Highway Route Map

Tamu

Dhaka

KathmanduNew Delhi

Mumbai

IslamabadKabul

KarachiChabaha

r

Trans-Asian Railway

Padma Bridge

Padma Bridge

Road and Rail Connection to the southwest

(including Mongla Port)

Peak flow (combined Ganges and

Brahmaputra) : 140,000 cu. meter per sec.

• second highest in the world

Length : 6.15 km (41 spans @ 150m)

Estimated cost : US $ 2.9 billion

Targeted completion : 2018

Padma Bridge

Padma Bridge

Deepest bridge foundation in the world

going down to -115m

Urban Transport Plans

Dhaka City : STP 2005-2025

2024 Mass

Rapid Transit

System

MRT6 Route

Elevated Track

21 km long

16 stations

65,000

passengers/hour/

direction

Dhaka Elevated

Expressway PPP

Route Alignment

Most Important Natural Hazards

Floods• Every year, one third (1/3) of the country goes under water

• 1998 : two thirds (2/3) of the country went under water

• Much better prepared ; evacuation to higher land

• better forecasting and warning systems

Cyclones and Storm Surge• 12 November, 1970 : 500,000 people killed

• 29 April, 1991 : 138,000 people killed

• 15 November, 2007 : 3,500 people killed

Earthquakes

Disaster Risk Reduction

Cyclones and Storm Surge

Master Plan for Multipurpose Cyclone

Shelters prepared in 1992

High Risk Area (HRA) identified

6.4% of total area, 5% of total population of

Bangladesh

around 3,000 multipurpose cyclone shelters

constructed in the HRA

need around 1,500 more shelters

Multipurpose Cyclone and Storm Surge Shelter

(Red Crescent Society)

Primary Schools cum Multipurpose Cyclone Shelters

Engineering Education

Background of Engineering Education

1876 : Dhaka Survey School

2-yr programme for Land Surveyors

1903 : Ahsanullah Engineering School

3-yr programme for Diploma in Civil Engg.

Electrical, Mechanical added later on

1947 : Ahsanullah Engg. College

4-yr degree BSc (Engg.) programmes

Civil, Elect., Mech., Chemical, Metallurgy

affiliated to Dhaka University

1962 : East Pakistan University of Engineering &

Technology; renamed

Bangladesh University of Engineering and

Technology (BUET) in 1971

Expansion of Engineering Education

1964-68 : Engineering Colleges set up in

Rajshahi, Chittagong and Khulna

1980 : Dhaka Engg. College ( under DU)

1985 : 4 Colleges converted to BITs,

autonomous degree awarding institutions

2003 : 4 BITs renamed as RUET, CUET,

KUET, DUET

1992 : First Private University established;

Currently there are 34 Public Universities and

78 Private Universities with around 2.5 million

students (in all subjects)

Engineering Education

First Bachelor‟s degree in Engineering

awarded in 1950 (at BUET)

Currently : 20 public universities and 45

private universities offering Bachelor‟s

degree programmes in various branches of

Engineering

Number of programmes : around 190

Number of students approx. 65,000

Admission Requirements

10 years of schooling leading to Secondary

School Certificate from a Government Board

(equivalent to UK GCSE „O‟ level) plus

2 years in a (Junior/Intermediate) College

leading to Higher Secondary Certificate from a

Government Board in the Science stream, with

Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics

(equivalent to UK GCSE „A‟ level)

or

Diploma in Engineering (SSC plus 4 years in

Polytechnic)

Board of Accreditation for Engineering

and Technical Education (BAETE)

Established by IEB in 2003

The Board is an autonomous body, independent of

the Institution

Responsible for accreditation of all degree

programs in “Engineering”

4-year Bachelor‟s degrees in Engineering, i.e.

16 years of education

Accreditation of BUET Programme by Jt Board of

Moderators (ICE, IStructE and CIBSE)

November

1992

Progress

26 Programs have been accredited

24 more are in the process, undergoing review

A Founder Member of NABEEA (Network of

Accreditation Bodies for Engineering Education

in Asia)

Application for Provisional Membership of

Washington Accord in the 2011 IEA Meeting in

Taiwan with Engineering Council, UK and Board

of Engineers, Malaysia as Nominators

Admitted as Provisional Member of WA in 2011

Thank you