The bridge will ramp up along the Marine Drive road opposite Oil Pier-III and will be anchored on the other side of the Karachi Port channel at Manora with causeways leading to Manora-Sandpit road. Lyari Expressway and Northern Bypass to provide smooth and uninterrupted connectivity to the hinterland.

The bridge will also provide access to the proposed cargo village to be built at the Western backwaters of the Karachi Port. It will provide alternate traffic-bypass to ease the ever-growing traffic pressure and load on city’s internal road network, ensuring smooth, reliable and unhindered traffic flow from the port.

Built at an estimated cost of $450 million, the Harbour Crossing Bridge (HCB) will separate heavy vehicular traffic movement from city’s internal traffic which is also growing at a fast pace.

The rapidly growing external trade with the current annual level of over $50 billion is a nightmare for Karachites who have to confront heavy vehicular traffic even in internal and narrow arteries of the city surrounded by densely populated areas.

The Karachi Port alone presently handles around 41.4 million tons of bulk and containerised cargoes per year. The two container terminals – KICT and PICT jointly handle around 1.3 million TEUs (twenty feet equivalent unit) annually. After the Pakistan Deep Sea Container Port comes into operation by the year 2013 under phase one, it will start handling 0.5 million boxes per year.

To reduce the surging pressure on city’s infrastructure particularly road network, the only way out would be to divert the heavy vehicular traffic moving into and out of port area towards Northern Bypass or Lyari Expressway through the harbour crossing bridge.

From the port’s oil storage area millions of gallons move in and out daily through lorries and pass through densely populated areas of the city. Most of these tanker lorries loaded with highly sensitive and flammable materials pass through city’s posh localities like Clifton and Defence Housing Authority.

The Karachi Port authority in December last gave a detailed presentation of the harbour crossing bridge to President Asif Ali Zardari at Bilawal House, designed to transform Karachi port into a “transshipment hub.”

The Asian Development Bank has indicated to give $100 million soft term loan as direct lending (without GoP guarantee). The ADB has also proposed to anchor the loan with KPT’s share of 35 per cent of the project cost, with the remaining to be acquired from commercial banks.

According to initial estimates, the HCB being a toll bridge will recover the entire investment in a period of 15 to 18 years, depending on the toll rates. Studies carried out by experts found the project feasible with an expected internal rate of return (EIRR)) of 16.54 per cent.

The ADB is also providing technical assistance of $225,000 for preparatory works for the evaluation of port’s business plan and income. These funds will also be used for updating the feasibility study of PDSCP and HCB initially carried out in 2005. KPT’s project manager, Saeed Soomro hopes that after getting approval, the port will be in a position to call bids for the HCB from contractors by middle of this year, adding that execution work of the bridge may be initiated by end of this year and it may be completed in four years.

A Chinese company has shown interest in the project and is also willing to fund the HCB on soft terms.