Padma Bridge lit on trial basis
As many as 24 lampposts were lit up on a trial basis at Padma Bridge on Saturday.
The bulbs of these lampposts started illuminating at 5:00pm.
Padma Bridge executive engineer Dewan Md Abdul Qauder confirmed the matter to Prothom Alo.
He said work on lighting the bulbs of 24 lampposts installed between span no. 12 and 19 was progressing and they managed to light up 23 lampposts between 5:30pm and 6:45pm with another lamppost started illuminating later.
According to the Bridge Division, work on installing the first lamppost began on the viaduct at Mawa end of Munshiganj on 25 November 2021.
A total of 415 lampposts have been set up on the 6.15-km bridge, including 328 lampposts in the main bridge, 46 in viaducts at Zazir end and 41 lampposts in viaducts in Mawa end. Work on installing lampposts in main bridge completed on 18 April.
Earlier on 24 May, power connection was set up at the substation on the pillar no. 42 of the bridge in Jajira end. Palli Bidyut Samity in Shariatpur and Mushiganj will supply 80 kilowatt of electricity each to illuminate the 415 lampposts on the bridge.
The bridge division prepares the progress report on the work of Padma Bridge project each month.
According to the latest report published on 1 May, 99 per cent of the main bridge has been completed with work on the reaming 1 per cent progressing.
Meanwhile, 70 per cent of the work on erecting signs, symbols and road markings for vehicles has been completed. This will be completed by 10 June. Power connections for the electric lights and other such miscellaneous last-minute tasks are on the way to completion.
Instalment of steel railing is progressing on the concrete wall of the bridge. This work was supposed to have been finished quite some time back, but the railing equipment arrived late due to the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. The project officials want to complete this too by 15 June.
The total expenditure for the Padma Bridge project had been estimated at Tk 301.93 billion (Tk 30,193 crore). Till May, total costs were Tk 275.92 billion (Tk 27,592 crore). Progress on the overall work of the project is 94.50 per cent.