Padma Bridge to be completely ready by 15 June
Padma Bridge is almost complete and ready for vehicles to cross. Most of the work that is being carried out now has little to do with vehicular movement. These little details will be complete by 15 June.
The bridges division prepares a report every month in the progress of the Padma Bridge project. According to the latest report published on Wednesday, 99 per cent of the work on the main bridge was completed in May. The remaining 1 per cent work is underway. 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.
Steel railings are being placed along the bridge's concrete walls. 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
Power connections for the electric lights and other such miscellaneous last-minute tasks are on the way to completion. These tasks will be completed this week and the plans are to illuminate Padma Bridge by mid-June.
Steel railings are being placed along the bridge's concrete walls. 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.
Director of Padma Bridge project Md Shafiqul Islam, speaking to Prothom Alo on Wednesday, said, minor work is being carried out on the bridge. According to the latest decision, all preparation is to be complete by 15 June. He said all work is being done to prepare the bridge for inauguration on 25 June.
Padma Bridge project sources say, there is still a little work left of laying the gas pipeline alongside the railway line. Setting up the base for a 400KV power transmission line two kilometres downstream of the bridge is also a part of the work on the main bridge. There is still a little left of this work too. But these tasks are not connected to the movement of vehicles across the bridge.
China's contractor firm China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited is carrying out the work of the main bridge. The contract with them was for Tk 124.94 billion (Tk 12,494 crore). Till May, Tk 119.18 billion (Tk 11,918 crore) has been spent.
According to the project progress report till May, 93 per cent of the river training work has been complete. Chinese company Sino Hydro Corporation is the contractor for this work. The contract with them was for Tk 89.72 billion (Tk 8,972 crore). Of this, Tk 76.54 billion (Tk 7,654 crore) has been paid so far.
Meanwhile, construction of the link roads on either side of the bridge, the toll plazas and other infrastructure was completed in 2018. This cost around Tk 15 billion (Tk 1500 crore). Costs for land acquisition and rehabilitation has been estimated at Tk 43.42 billion (Tk 4342 crore). Another Tk 28.85 billion (Tk 2885 crore) was allocated for consultants to supervise the construction and also for security work.
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.
According to the government's latest decision, the deadline for the contractors ends in June. There will still be a year of the project term left. Within this time, any unfinished work will be completed, the contractors will be paid their dues and if any glitches appear in the bridge, the contractors will fix these.
Sources of the bridge division said that the Padma Bridge development project proposal (DPP) will have to be amended one more time because if the project costs increase, this will have to be included. The project proposal was to be amended this month, but that will not be possible because the bill of the contractors is paid on the basis of the present market price of the commodities.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) publishes the list of market prices from time to time, but its last bulletin was published towards the end of last year. Under the circumstances, the bridges division is unable to determine the dues against the bills submitted by the contractors. This has held up the amendment of the Padma Bridge project's final cost proposal.