Around 3.5km of Padma bridge visible

About 3,450 metres of the much-hyped Padma Bridge became visible after the installation of the 23nd span on Sunday, reports UNB. 

The 6-A span was installed on pillar no 31 and 32 of the bridge at Jajira point in Shariatpur district around 2:50pm, said Humayun Kabir, deputy assistant engineer of the Padma bridge project. 

Earlier, the 150-meter long span was brought near pillar no 31 and 32 by Tian-E crane from Kumarbhog specialised construction yard in Munshiganj’s Mawa in the morning.

On 23 January, some 3.3 km of the bridge became invisible after the installation of the 22nd span.

Dewan Abdul Quader, executive engineer of Padma multipurpose bridge project, said two spans were installed last month but more spans will increase in February.

He also said that the construction work of the bridge is being hampered as a total of 200 Chinese workers, out of 1100, working at the project got stranded in China after they went there to celebrate China New Year.

Road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader on 30 December last said all the spans of the Padma bridge will be installed by July 2020.

He also said the bridge will be opened to traffic by 2021.

Once in operation, the Padma bridge, Bangladesh's largest infrastructure project till date, will connect 21 southern districts with the capital and boost the GDP by 1 per cent.