The construction of the main structure of the Padma bridge takes off on Saturday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina scheduled to inaugurate the river training work and construction of the main bridge on that day.
Once completed, the 6.15 km bridge will establish direct road communication between Dhaka and 19 southern districts of the country. It will have a railroad as well.
The Tk 230 billion project is the largest ever self-financed project taken up by independent Bangladesh.
“Almost 27 percent of the total work has already been completed. The river training and the main bridge’s construction will kick off on Saturday,” Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader told the press while visiting the project site on Thursday.
He hoped that it would be possible to open the bridge to traffic in 2018 as planned.
Apart from connecting the southern region with the western, the Padma bridge will also function as part of the proposed Asian Highway route.
A 1.23 percent increase in Bangladesh’s GDP is expected after the bridge becomes operational, according to government estimates.
Sheikh Hasina has, in the past, spoken of a plan to build a Hong Kong-like city centred on the Padma bridge.
During a visit to the site on Thursday, the bdnews24.com correspondent caught a glimpse of the massive scale of work going on there. The entire area was abuzz with thousands of workers and engineers busy in different activities.
Large cranes and dredgers have been installed in the river for the piling work that is to begin on Saturday.
Concrete blocks were being made on the riverbank for use in river training.
The prime minister will inaugurate the construction of the seventh pillar of a total of 42, her Deputy Press Secretary Mamun Or Rashid has told the media.
She will reach Jajira around 9:45am Saturday by a helicopter and will address a public rally at Mawa around2:30pm after opening the bridge construction and river training work.
The project was initiated in 1998 when the Awami League was in power, but it went into limbo when the party lost the general election in 2001.
When the AL returned to power in 2009, it revived the initiative. Though the World Bank initially proposed funding much of the project, Bangladesh withdrew the funding request after the global lender raised a stink over alleged corruption.
Sheikh Hasina, however, remained steadfast and decided to go ahead with the project with Bangladesh’s own resources.
In 2014, China’s Major Bridge Engineering Company Ltd and Sinohydro Corporation Ltd were awarded the contracts for the construction of the main bridge and the river training work.
“Sheikh Hasina has turned the dream of a Padma bridge into a reality, defeating all conspiracies,” said Deputy Press Secretary Rashid.
To ease communication between Dhaka and the bridge, a four-lane highway from Postogola to Mawa and a 13 km flyover from Bijoynagar to Dhaka-Mawa road will be constructed, Minister Obaidul Quader said.
Another four-lane highway from Jajira to Kuakata via Khulna and Benapole has been planned, he added.
Source: bdnews24.com
