BANGLADESH

Sub: IAEG Bangladesh National Group Proposal toOrganize” ARC 2025 (Asian Regional Conference2025)” of IAEG in Bangladesh.
Date: Aug 10, 2022

Dear Prof. Faquan Wu,
It’s my great pleasure to inform you as a member of IAEG_Bnagladesh National Group,
Bangladesh is actively participating in all IAEG events & activities since it’s inception in2017. Recently Bangladesh National Group have participated and presented papers in theIAEG Asian Regional Conference in Katmundu, Nepal (2017), Singapore (2019), European
Regional conference in Greece in 2021. Last few years we have organized many national
events here in Dhaka. In 2023 we are also planning to join the forthcoming IAEG mega
event in Chengdu, China. In this connection, with great pleasure, I would like to inform youthat the executive committee of “ Bangladesh National Group “ in a recent meeting heldon the 26th July 2022, decided to submit proposal to the next IAEG council meeting (Sept.
2022) to organize ARC 2025 in Bangladesh in association with Nepal Society of Engineering
Geologists as one of the Co-organizers with proposed post conference field excursions(“Padma Bridge en route to UN World Heritage site Sunderbans” & “Bangabondhu
Karnafully Tunnel” en route to world’s largest sea beach Cox’s Bazar).
I am planning to participate in the forthcoming IAEG council meeting on 14th Sept.
2022 and will submit the proposal in favor of Bangladesh National Group.

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Bangladesh National Group is a strong candidate for 15th Asian Regional Conference ofIAEG due to following reason:
1. In 2018, Bangladesh hosted a major event of IAEG in Dhaka. It was a great event ofIAEG B a n g l a d e s h national group.
2. In 2017, 2019 Bangladesh actively participated other ARC’s organized by different
national groups. Bangladesh national group also organized many events individually
since it’s inception in 2017. During critical pandemic time, we have organized many
virtual events. In 2022, IAEG Bangladesh National Group organized another physicalnational engineering geological event in association with ANSO China, which clearlyjustify that Bangladesh can host international event successfully.
3.

Last few years, Bangladesh Economy is booming with the development of verylarge mega infrastructure projects including Padma bridge, Bangabondhu
Underwater Karnafully river tunnel, Mass rapid transit (MRT) transport system,
Matarbari coal based power plant, Rooppur Nuclear power plant, Paira deep sea
port and many others in the pipeline. Recently completed “Padma bridge” is anengineering wonder for the whole world and also for the geo-engineering
professionals. In addition, last few years Bangladesh has been experiencing many
climate related geo-hazards including landslide hazards, floods, earthquake andliquefaction hazards. These geo-hazards are the big challenges for sustainable
development of Bangladesh. The loss due to climate hazards is increasing everyyear. More than one million Rohingya refugees repatriated from Myanmar are now
at high risk of landslides & earthquakes in the Ukhiya Teknaf camp area.

5. Every year many people lives and properties are threaten by natural disasters mainly
due to landslides, earthquakes and floods and importance of Engineering Geology inthe country is not well discussed by concern agencies including policy makers. As aresult, still geologists are leading the engineering geological works and such works
are merely guided by geological information rather than engineering geologicalevaluation. Engineering Geological evaluation is a primary pre-requisite for all mega
projects of Bangladesh, which clearly justify the importance engineering geology
education in Bangladesh.
6. In developing Engineering Geological curriculum in a university, only Engineeringgroup of Jahangirnagar University is playing a vital role in producing young
Engineering Geologists/Geological Engineer’s for Bangladesh. Only few JU
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engineering geological graduates are now working in different ongoing mega
projects of Bangladesh (GoB). Other universities of Bangladesh must come forwardto develop engineering geological curriculum for future sustainable infrastructuredevelopment and managing complexity of the earth processes to be a developed
nation by 2041.
Bangladesh is a developing nation and emerging as an “Asian Tiger” in terms ofeconomic growth. As the country’s economy is booming, recently country status has
been updated by United Nations from a least developed to developing country withsignificant increase of GDP and per capital income. Importance of GeologicalEngineering is huge in this transitional phase of economy to attain sustainability. That’s
why Bangladesh is a strong candidate to organize ARC 2025 in Bangladesh.
The major theme of this proposed “ARC 2025”will be"Geological Engineering for Sustainable Development”
Supported by:International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAEG)
Organized by:
IAEG_Bangladesh National Group
Proposed Co-Organizers:
Nepal Society Of Engineering Geologists (NSEG)
Engineering Geology, Geohazards & Disaster Sciences Research Group,
Department of Geological Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh]
Kagawa University, Japan,ANSO (Alliance of International Science Organizations), China
Proposed Sponsors :Geological Survey of Bangladesh,
Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, GoB.
Ministry of Environment,GoB.
Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief,
Ministry of Science & Technology
Ministry of Education &3

Other companies
Conference date：Nov. 27-28, 2025 (Planned only) but it will be within last week of Nov 2025 to early
December, 2025 (will be finalized later avoiding the date of major national events & festival)
Conference venue：
InterContinental Hotel (Sheraton Hotel) or Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, Dhaka,Bangladesh (5 Star Hotels) with full facilities of arranging International Conference
events.
Conference size：
About 250 to 300 attendees, 50 from neighboring countries including Nepal , India and 50
from other counties including Japan, Europe & others.
Conference language:
EnglishField Excursions:
We will conduct two field excursion programs a s l i st e d b e l o w
1 . “ P a d m a B r i d g e e n r o u t e t o U N E SC O W o r l d H e r i t a g e s i t eSunderbans”
T h i s f i e l d t r i p wi l l st a r t f r o m t h e c a p i t a l c i t y Dh a k a vi a Ma wa J a zi r ae x p r e s s h i gh wa y a n d wi l l b e e n d e d i n t h e c o a st a l m a n g r o ve f o r e st o f
B a n gl a d e sh – a U NE SC O w o r l d h e r i t a ge si t e l o c a t e d a t Su n d a r b a n s, Kh u l n a .
Pa d m a B r i d ge i s a n e n gi n e e r i n g w o n d e r t o a l l ge o - e n g i n e e r i n g p r o fe s si o n a l s
a n d l a n d m a r k o f B a n gl a d e s h .

Padma Bridge is a multipurpose structure carrying a highway, railway, and utilities,including a gas pipe line and telecommunications cables. The two level structure of thebridge enables the road, railway and utilities to be arranged in a logical manner with goodaccess for maintenance and inspection. The bridge is also provided with emergency accesspoints in order to facilitate the evacuation of a train on the bridge. This is a two-levelstructure with the highway running on the top concrete slab and the railway running between
the chords of the truss. Padma Bridge is a multipurpose structure carrying a highway,railway, and utilities, including a gas pipelineand telecommunications cables. The two levelstructure of the bridge enables the road, railway and utilities tube arranged in a logicalmanner with good access for maintenance and inspection. The bridge is also provided withemergency access points in order to facilitate the evacuation of a train on the bridge. This is a
two-level structure with the highway running on the top concrete slab and the railway
running between the chords of the truss.

41.40 lakh cubic meters of water can go to the Bay of Bengal every second through thePadma. The amount of water that flows into the Bay of Bengal through the Padma is thesecond highest in the world after the Amazon River.
The length of Padma bridge piles is 120-128 meters. During the monsoon, when there isexcess flow, the Padma River may scour 65 meters of soil, which means 65 meters of soil is
washed away from the bottom of the river. In the history of bridge construction, thefoundation of a bridge has never been built at such a depth anywhere in the world. Specialcranes and hammers were made from Germany only for the Padma Bridge for installing suchhigh-length piles.
The piles below the two piers are slightly different, which are vertical bored concrete piles
that are up to 80 meters deep. It means that these piles are not inclined but straightunderwater. These are concrete piles, like the common columns of our houses. These piles
are cast into the water, which means pouring concrete into the water. But the concrete does
not float and becomes a column.
The Padma Bridge can withstand an earthquake of 9 on the Richter scale without anycomplications. Base isolation technology and pendulum bearing is used. Each heavy bearing
between the span and pier of Padma Bridge has a weight of about 10,500 metric tons. No
other bridge in the world has ever used such heavy bearings.
River training was another very important function of the Padma Bridge, which was very
challenging. A 14 km area has come under river training. Placing stones, concrete blocks,and geo bags on the banks of the river. 8.5 lakh tons of stone were used at the Mawa end, and30 lakh tons of stone were thrown at the Jazeera end. 3,907,500 geo bags weighing 800 kg
and17,267,500 geo bags weighing 125 kg were dropped. The total of cement concrete blocks
was 13,301,248.
The first ballast-less rail track is made with RCC instead of stone. The rail track is placed ona truss structure (the V-shaped steel structure). The train will pass through the steel structure.
The rail line is dual gauge. It has provision for double-decker containers to carry goods.
There will be emergency arrangements so that people can be alighted from the train andtaken to a safe place in case of any kind of trouble on the train.
Padma Bridge is a symbol of self-reliance, courage, determination, ability, and confidence.
The construction of this Padma bridge is an „engineering wonder' in front of the whole world,
an example of overcoming engineering challenges.
1.40 lakh cubic meters of water can go to the Bay of Bengal every second through thePadma. The amount of water that flows into the Bay of Bengal through the Padma is thesecond highest in the world after the Amazon River. The length of Padma bridge piles is 120128 meters. During the monsoon, when there is excess flow, the Padma River may scour 65
meters of soil, which means 65 meters of soil is washed away from the bottom of the river. In
the history of bridge construction, the foundation of a bridge has never been built at such adepth anywhere in the world. Special cranes and hammers were made from Germany only
for the Padma Bridge for installing such high-length piles.

5The piles below the two piers are slightly different, which are vertical bored concrete piles
that are up to 80 meters deep. It means that these piles are not inclined but straightunderwater. These are concrete piles, like the common columns of our houses. These piles
are cast into the water, which means pouring concrete into the water. But the concrete does
not float and becomes a column.
The Padma Bridge can withstand an earthquake of 9 on the Richter scale without anycomplications. Base isolation technology and pendulum bearing is used. Each heavy bearing
between the span and pier of Padma Bridge has a weight of about 10,500 metric tons. No
other bridge in the world has ever used such heavy bearings.
River training was another very important function of the Padma Bridge, which was verychallenging. A 14 km area has come under river training. Placing stones, concrete blocks,
and geo bags on the banks of the river. 8.5 lakh tons of stone were used at the Mawa end, and30 lakh tons of stone were thrown at the Jazeera end. 3,907,500 geo bags weighing 800 kg
and17,267,500 geo bags weighing 125 kg were dropped. The total of cement concrete blocks
was 13,301,248.
The first ballast-less rail track is made with RCC instead of stone. The rail track is placed ona truss structure (the V-shaped steel structure). The train will pass through the steel structure.
The rail line is dual gauge. It has provision for double-decker containers to carry goods.
There will be emergency arrangements so that people can be alighted from the train andtaken to a safe place in case of any kind of trouble on the train.
Padma Bridge is a symbol of self-reliance, courage, determination, ability, and confidence.
The construction of this Padma bridge is an „engineering wonder' in front of the whole world,
an example of overcoming engineering challenges.
Sundarbans is a mangrove area in the delta formed by the confluence of
the Padma, Brahmaputra, and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal which is enlisted as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the mangrove-dominated Ganges Delta which is acomplex ecosystem comprising one of the three largest single tracts of mangrove forests inthe world. The Sundarbans mangrove forest covers an area of about 10,000 km2, of which
forests in Bangladesh extend over 6,017 km2 and in India extend over 4,260 km2 and it isoccupied by water bodies in the forms of rivers, canals, and creeks of width varying from afew meters to several kilometers. It is intersected by a complex networkof tidal waterways, mudflats, and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests. Theinterconnected network of waterways makes almost every corner of the forest accessible byboat. Rivers in the Sundarbans are meeting places of salt water and freshwater. Thus, it is aregion of transition between the freshwater of the rivers originating from the Ganges and thesaline water of the Bay of Bengal.
The Sundarban is one of the largest single populations of Royal Bengal Tigers in onearea.The most abundant tree species are sundari (Heritierafomes) and gewa
(Excoecariaagallocha). The forests provide habitat to 453 fauna wildlife, including 290
birds, 120 fishes, 42 mammals, 35 reptiles, and eight amphibian species. The Mangroves
species present in the Sundarbans area serve a crucial function as a protective barrier for themillions of inhabitants in and around Khulna and Mongla against the floods that result fromthe cyclones. It also protects from tsunamis and soil erosion for the coastal population.

6Geologically, the tract of the Sundarbans is of recent origin, raised by the deposition ofsediments formed due to soil erosion in the Himalayas. The process has been accelerated bytides from the sea face. The substratum consists mainly of Quaternary Era sediments, sandand silt mixed with marine salt deposits and clay. Soils of the Sundarbans differ from otherinland soils in that they are subjected to the effects of salinity and waterlogging. In places
soils are semi-solid and poorly consolidated; medium textured, sandy loam, silt loam or clay
loam; the grain size distribution is highly variable. Silt loam is dominant textural class.
Organic matter content varies between 4% and 10% in dry soil.
The Katka, Hiron Point (Nilkamal), Dublar Char and Tiger Point (Kachi Khali) are the most
attractive spots for their beautiful landscape and wildlife and beach. The other attraction of
the island is the fishing and honey collecting activities.

P h o t o : E n g in e e r in g Lan d ma rk P ad m a Br id ge & Mangrove forest Sundarbans ---an
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
2 . “B a n g a b o n d h u Ka rn a fu l l y Tu n n e l ” e n ro u te t o w o r ld ’ sla rg e s t Sa n d y s e a b e a c h C o x ’ s B a z a r .
Thi s fi el d t r i p wi l l st a rt f rom D h a ka t o t h e t h e po r t c i t y o f
C ha t t o gr am , pa ssi n g t hr ou gh t h e n e wl y c on st ru ct ed m a rv el ous geo en gi n e e ri n g st ru ct u r e t h e 9.3 9 K m . l o n g Ka rn a ph ul i Tun nel a nd en ds att he l o n ges t un br o ke n s and y S e a b e a ch o f t h e wo rl d , C ox ‟s B az a r. The7

Karnaphuli Tunnel is a game changer for the southeast region of Bangladesh, presenting asolution to connectivity issues to the rest of the country.
Cox's Bazar coast, running from Cox‟s Bazar to Teknaf, is known as the longest
natural sandy beach in the world with an unbroken length of 155 km. It has a low coastal
plain leaving behind Tertiary hills with different geological exposures. The sand at Cox‟sBazar beach and surrounding areas are rich in mineral content. It is one of the most popularand developed tourist destinations in Bangladesh. The area surrounding the beach contains
different geological exposures as well as homes to nearly 8,000 different species of flora andfauna. The magnificent blue water of the Bay of Bengal holds abundant sea life creatures,
including jellyfish, starfish, numerous fish species, turtles, and tiny red crabs. At Cox‟s Bazar
city lots of geo-exposures to be observed at Inani and Himchari along the marine drive by theside of the world‟s longest natural sandy beach with its exposed strata and coastal erosion.

Photo:: Ka rn ap hul i T unn el an d t h e l o n ge st un br ok en sa nd y S e a b ea c h o f t h e
wo rl d , C ox ‟s B az a r , Bangladesh.
In this circumstances, I would like to Place our strong candidacy to the council to host "ARC
2 0 2 5 ( 1 5 t h A R C ) ” ( Asian Regional Conference 2025) of IAEG" in Bangladesh to enhance
IAEG activities in the south Asian region and to promote Engineering Geology activities in thedeveloping nations including Bangladesh. . I am very sure that IAEG council w i l lc o n s i d e r o u r p r o p o s a l i n t h e f o u r t h c o m i n g c o u n c i l meeting and will approveo u r proposal very seriously and select Bangladesh – “The Emerging Tiger of Asia” as most8

suitable country to host ARC 2025 (Asian Regional Conference 2025) of IAEG.
Thanking You,Yours Sincerely,(A.T.M. Shakhawat Hossain)PhD

M.Sc (Geology),
M.Sc. (EngineeringGeology)
PhD (GeotechnicalEngineering), Post-Doc(Landslide Hazards),
Life Member GSB, MLEGS,
Member GSA, USA.
President
IAEG Bangladesh National Group
JU_ANSO China Official Representative
Former Editor Bamgladesh Geoscience Journal
Professor & Geotechnical Engineering Consultant
Geotechnical Engineering, Geohazards & DisasterSciences Gp. Department of Geological Sciences
Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka-1342,
Bangladesh.
Email : shakhawathos2004@yahoo.com ,shossain@juniuv,edu
Mobile Phone : +88001914897282
www.iaegbng.com/aboutwww.juniuv.edu
https://bd.linkedin.com/in/a-t-m-shakhawathossain-6b214927
cc. 1. Vice President. IAEG Asia.(Dr.Tang Halming & Dr.Bo An Jang)

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