Exploring the supply chain challenges of coarse aggregate (Crushed stone) as raw material of the highway and bridge construction projects in Roads and Highways Department (Bangladesh)

Abstract

The Roads and Highways Department is a government agency entitled with the responsibility to expand and maintain the National Highways of Bangladesh along with the Regional and Zilla Highways across Bangladesh. The highway networks of approximate 21000km contains numerous bridges culverts overpasses interchanges as well as flexible and rigid pavements. The construction material required for these massive infrastructures is mostly aggregate of which [75%] is coarse aggregate. With the developing trend of Communication sector of Bangladesh, the highway construction sector was given utmost priority resulting in numerous highway construction projects. To cater the demand of these highway construction projects, the capacity of the Coarse Aggregate supply chain was tested practically. Owing to the unavailability of sufficient domestic sources of the coarse aggregate, it has made this supply chain more vulnerable and price sensitive in last 10 years. The supply chain of the Coarse Aggregate is highly influential to the highway infrastructure development as well as maintenance activities of existing highways of Bangladesh. In our report, we shall focus on the overall scenario of the coarse aggregate supply specifically in Highway Construction Industry.