Bangla Press Desk: Emergency repairs to a bridge in Narayanganj’s Sonargaon have caused a traffic jam stretching around 40km along the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway, leaving travellers facing hours of disruption.
The congestion began on Friday after the Dhaka-bound lane of the Ashariar Char bridge was closed for urgent repairs to a large pothole, Highway Police said.
The tailback extended from the affected section towards Cumilla, but traffic began easing after around 10:30am on Saturday.
Alrazi Rion, sub-divisional engineer at the Narayanganj office of the Roads and Highways Department, said several days of rain had damaged the bridge and created a pothole about five metres long.
As the damage posed a risk to traffic, the section was repaired with micro-concrete on Friday, he said.
The material needed at least 24 hours to harden, meaning one lane had to remain closed while vehicles were diverted through the other.
The repaired lane was reopened at around 9am on Saturday, according to Kanchpur Highway Police chief Shafiul Alam.
He said traffic returned to normal after around an hour and a half of efforts by Highway Police.
Additional officers had been deployed to the area to manage the congestion.
“The long tailback was mainly caused by the closure of the Dhaka-bound lane,” Shafiul said. “Everything is normal now.”
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