The landscape at the Padma bridge site is changing fast.
Large excavators and cranes, dump trucks, bulldozers, loaders and dredgers are in operation round-the-clock on both sides of the Padma at Mawa and Janjira around 40 kilometres south of the capital.
Workers are busy building approach roads. Piling, dredging and river training are going on in full swing.
When night falls, the entire area takes a different look as the massive work continues under floodlight.
At daytime, the vast construction site at Kumarbhog point in Mawa easily draws attention of anyone travelling between the capital and the Southwest region.
Gigantic iron pipes up to 100 metres in length are being made at the site which can be seen even from the middle of the mighty river.
Huge cranes load the pipes into megaships which carry those to the piling site in the river.
Similar cranes have been placed at different points from Mawa to Janjira for constructing approach roads as well as for piling and river training. A good number of dredgers are also in operation at several points of the river.
On Sunday, housewife Benu Akhter, who was going to Shariatpur by a speedboat through the Padma, expressed surprise at the brisk pace of the construction work.
“It seems our dream is finally coming true,” she said gladly.
Hasan Hawlader, who lives in Mawa, said, “At the beginning, we did not believe that the bridge would be built. Today we feel happy to see that our dream will come true.”
The 75-year-old man thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her strong determination to build the bridge.
Like Benu and Hasan, many people told this correspondent that they felt happy to see the rapid progress of construction work.
Thousands of concrete blocks were piled up at the project sites on both sides of the Padma for river training.
Local and foreign engineers, officials and workers were found busy there. Army personnel were monitoring work at the sites of the approach roads and giving instructions to workers.
Huge piles of sand, stone, coal and brick were kept at Mawa intersection for constructing a 1.6 km-long approach road.
On the other side of the river, trucks were bringing sand, cement, stone and soil for a 10.5 km-long approach road at Janjira point. Loaders and excavators were also at work.
Construction of five bridges and 20 underpasses, which are part of the approach road, is almost complete, said project officials.
The pace of work got momentum in the last few weeks, as the prime minister is expected to visit the sites on December 12 to officially inaugurate construction work of the main bridge.
Officials involved in the project said soil test was done at 16 of the 30 piling sites for the 6.15 km-long Padma bridge. Construction of the four-lane road and rail bridge would begin formally after the PM inaugurates work of the main bridge, they said.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and senior officials of his ministry visit the project sites almost every day to supervise construction work.
Talking to The Daily Star recently, Padma Bridge Project Director Engineer Shafiqul Islam said, “We are on track and we will be able to complete the construction of the bridge in time.”
The pace of work would gain momentum gradually, and hopefully the bridge would be to open to public by December 2018, he said at his project office in Mawa.
The government is building the bridge with its own funds of Tk 28,000 crore, as the donors, including the World Bank, suspended their pledged assistance for Bangladesh’s largest infrastructure project over an allegation of corruption conspiracy.
China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Construction Company is building the main bridge which will establish direct rail-road communication between the capital and the southwest part of the country.
Another major component of the project is river training which is being done by another Chinese company, Sinohydro Corporation Ltd.
Local firms have been constructing the approach roads since 2013, which are scheduled to be completed by the end of next year.
Bangladesh Army, Buet and Korea Expressway Corporation and Associates are supervising construction of the bridge that is expected to boost country’s trade, and development and economic activities.
Source: The Daily Star
