Bangladesh’s Roads & Highways Department has signed an US$18 million contract with Dhaka-headquartered National Development Engineers Ltd (NDE) and China’s FiberHome Telecommunication Technologies Co Ltd for the country’s first dedicated Intelligent Transport System (ITS) project.
Under the SASEC Road Connectivity Project 2 (Package 15), which is financed by the Asian Development Bank, the 252 km-long SASEC Corridor from Joydevpur to Rangpur will be managed and monitored with ITS and weigh in motion (WIM) systems.
As part of the ITS, there will be LED-enabled variable message signs (VMS) installed on steel gantries, as well as automated incident reporting, surveillance, traffic and vehicle data collection and speed detection systems which will be integrated into a traffic management center (TMC) at the road operation unit (ROU) in Dhaka. TMC managers and operators will use ITS components to manage traffic and respond to incidents and emergencies in real time.
There will also be three axle load control stations with medium speed weigh in motion (MSWIM) systems. The weight and class of vehicles passing through these stations will automatically be recorded and sent to the TMC. If found overweight, they will be reported automatically to Roads & Highways and any other relevant enforcement authority for further checking or action.
The NDE work will be jointly undertaken by its subsidiaries NDE Solutions and MCC Ltd.
“This project is significantly important for Bangladesh as it will pave the way for many such projects in the future,” says Riyad S A Husain, managing director of NDE Solutions.
Maksudul Islam, chairman of MCC says: “The project will greatly improve transportation safety and traffic mobility. It is a perfect example of how technology can enhance our country’s infrastructure.”
The ITS project is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
