Padma Bridge is a multi-purpose road
and railway bridge built over the Padma River in Bangladesh. Through this,
Shariatpur and Madaripur districts were connected with the Louhajang of
Munshiganj. The inauguration date of Padma Bridge has been fixed on June 25,
2022. The two-tiered steel and concrete truss bridge has a four-lane road at
the top and a single rail track at the bottom. The main infrastructure is
constructed in the Padma-Brahmaputra-Meghna river basin with 42 pillars and 41
spans of 150 m length. The length of the bridge is 6.15 km and the width is 18.10
m.
Construction history:
On September 16, 1998, a proposal was made for the construction of a bridge over the Padma River on the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga-Khulna Highway at a cost of Tk 3,643.50 crore to establish a direct link between the capital and the south and south-west of the country. The 5 km long and 18.10 m wide bridge was considered to be the longest bridge in the country. Construction was proposed to begin in July 1999 and be completed in June 2004. It was planned to provide the proposed amount of Tk 2,693.50 crore from foreign sources and Tk 750 crore from national sources.
In the 2006-2007 Annual Development Program, the Government of Bangladesh adopted a plan to build the Padma Multipurpose Bridge. The World Bank withdrew its pledge in 2008-09 after allegations of corruption by some people involved in project preparation, and other donors followed the same. In this incident, the then Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain was removed from the cabinet and Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan was sent to jail. The case was later dropped by a Canadian court for lack of evidence. Allegations of corruption were later refuted in court. Later, the project was decided to be funded by the Bangladesh government from its own resources.
Construction of the multi-purpose
socio-economic development project 'Padma Multipurpose Bridge' on the Padma
River, designed by AECOM, was scheduled to begin in 2011 and be completed in
2013. The original project was planned by the former caretaker government on
August 26, 2006. At that time the Padma Bridge project worth Tk 10,161 crore
was passed. Later, the Awami League government came and connected the railway
and on January 11, 2011 revised the cost of the bridge in the first phase. At
that time the cost was estimated at Tk 20,507 crore. The cost of the Padma
Bridge was further increased by Tk 8,000 crore. As a result, the total cost of
the Padma Bridge was Tk 28,793 crore. The Bangladesh Bridge Authority called
for pre-qualification tenders for the project in April 2010. According to the
first plan, construction of the bridge was scheduled to begin in early 2011 and
major works were to be completed by 2013. According to the plan, the project
will cover three districts - Munshiganj (Mawa point), Shariatpur and Madaripur
(Zajira point). The total land required and acquired for this is 918 hectares
of land.
Design:
The complete design of the Padma
Multipurpose Bridge was formed by a team of international and national
consultants led by AECOM. An international panel of experts was formed on the
Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge Project, the first major bridge project in
Bangladesh. Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury was appointed chairman of the
11-member expert panel. The panel provides expert advice to project officers,
design consultants and development partners on the design and implementation of
the bridge.
Action plan:
The physical work of Padma Bridge is
basically divided into five packages namely- (a) Main Bridge, (b) River
Governance, (c) Road connecting Jazira, (d) Toll Plaza etc. Mawa connecting
roads, toll plazas etc. and Mawa and Jajira service areas. The design
consulting firm engaged in the project, was responsible for preparing the
pre-qualification rate documents for the recruitment of physical works
contractors, evaluating the tender documents after inviting tenders, and
assisting the tender committee in all related works. An international panel of experts
had overseen the work of the design consulting firm. Tender evaluation
committee was formed for various packages of physical work. The director of the
Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project was the chairman of the technical evaluation
committee.
Piling problems:
In the beginning, the engineers and
experts who built the bridge had to find the soil at the bottom of the river
Padma. Normal soil was not found at the bottom. The problem was seen after the
piling work of the bridge started. Engineers try to build pillars by creating
new soils instead of artificial ones at the bottom of the river. The Padma
Bridge was built in this manner called screen grouting. In this process, the
strength of the soil is increased by sending chemicals to the bottom of the
river through a hole in the pipe from above. Then pillars were built on that
ground. In this method small steel pipes are welded with piles. A type of
chemical is sent through the pipe to the soil at the bottom of the river. Under
the influence of chemicals, the soil at the bottom becomes hard. At some point
that soil becomes able to carry the load of the pile. Then there is no obstacle
to put the pile.
Construction cost:
The total cost for the construction of
the Padma Bridge was Tk 30,193.39 crore. These costs include construction of
bridge infrastructure, river governance, connecting roads, land acquisition,
rehabilitation and environment, salaries and allowances, etc. According to the
agreement of the bridge department with the finance department of Bangladesh,
the government gave a loan of Tk 29,893 crore for the construction of the
bridge. The bridge authority will pay it at the rate of 1 percent interest
within 35 years.
Gradual increase:
In 2005, the initial estimate for the
construction of the Padma Bridge was Rs 12,000 crore. At a meeting of the
Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, the then Prime Minister
Khaleda Zia suggested limiting the total construction cost to Tk 10,000 crore
in terms of construction cost of other comparable bridges in the world. During
the caretaker government in August 2007, the ECNEC meeting approved the final
estimate of Rs 10,161 crore for the Padma Bridge.
Construction schedule:
Major Bridge Engineering Corporation
of China was hired for the main bridge. Sinohydro Corporation of China works on
river governance. Abdul Monem Limited of Bangladesh was awarded the contract
for construction of two connecting roads and infrastructure. The main
construction work started in October 2017. After a long wait on September 30,
the first span was placed on the pillars of the Padma Bridge. The span was
installed with the help of floating cranes on pillars 37th and 38th at Jajira
end of Shariatpur. On 10 December 2020, the entire Padma Bridge became visible
by placing the 41st span on the 12th and 13th pillars of the Padma Bridge. The
last road slab was laid on 23rd August, 2021. From June 4 to June 10 in the
year 2022, the test of 415 lights of the bridge was completed step by step. On
June 14, all the lights were lit at once. Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the
bridge on June 25.
Contracting Agency:
On 16 June 2014, a formal agreement was signed between the Government of Bangladesh and China Major Bridge Company for the construction of the Padma Bridge. As the lowest bidder, the Chinese company was given the responsibility of constructing the Padma Bridge. When the first tender for the construction of the Padma Bridge was called in 2010, 40 companies took part in it to get pre-qualification. Five of these companies were selected under the supervision of the World Bank, JICA and ADB. A company was later dropped due to World Bank objections. Only this Chinese company submits financial proposals when called for financial proposals. The company is a subsidiary of China Railway Group Limited.
In April 2022, under the Bridges
Division, Korea Expressway Corporation and China Major Bridge Engineering
Company Limited were appointed by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority to maintain
and collect tolls on the Padma Multipurpose Bridge.
Toll:
On 28 April 2022, the Ministry of
Bridges proposed a toll rate for the Padma Bridge and sent it to Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina for approval. On May 17, the Ministry of Road Transport and
Bridges issued a notification fixing different toll rates for different
transports.
Economic importance:
The Mawa-Jajira point of the Padma
Multipurpose Bridge connects the south-western part with the center of
Bangladesh through a specific route. This bridge will significantly contribute
to the social, economic and industrial development of the relatively
underdeveloped region. The project will directly benefit more than 30 million
people in an area of about 44,000 sq km (17,000 sq mile) or 29% of the total
area of Bangladesh. As a result, the project is being considered as a very
important infrastructure for the country's transport network and regional
economic development. The bridge will have future rail, gas, power lines and
fiber optic cable expansion. If this bridge is built, the GDP of Bangladesh
will increase up to 1.2 percent.
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