Padma bridge now to open by year-end

The wait for the completion of the Padma Bridge is set to prolong as the prime minister said yesterday that the bridge would be open to public by the end of the year.

This deadline is later than the ones put forward by top government officials and project authorities. They had earlier announced that the 6.15km bridge would be opened to traffic by June this year.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader reiterated the deadline as recently as Sunday.

But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a written answer during a question-answer session tabled in parliament yesterday, said: "Work is going on in full swing to open the Padma Bridge to traffic by the end of 2022."

Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam yesterday hinted that the delay in bringing some materials from European countries due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war could be a reason behind the change in deadline.

Besides, if the bridge is open to public in June this year, the railway authorities would not be able to start rail operations on the bridge simultaneously.

Installation of the railway track on the bridge has not till now started as the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), the implementing authority of the bridge, is yet to hand over the structure to Bangladesh Railway to start the work, project officials said.

Bangladesh Railway authorities now expect to start installation of the rail tracks on the bridge from July and hope that they would be ready to start rail operations on the Mawa-Bhanga section via Padma Bridge by December this year.

The plan to simultaneously commence operations of the rail and road services on the bridge could be another reason behind the change in the deadline, sources at BR said.

Once in service, the bridge will connect the capital with 21 southwestern districts by road and railway, providing relief to tens of thousands who often face hardships at two ferry terminals, which intensify ahead of major festivals.

The double-decker bridge -- a four-lane road on the top and broad-gauge single rail track on the bottom -- is expected to boost the country's gross domestic product by 1.2 percent.

BR is implementing a Tk 39,246.79 crore Padma Bridge Rail Link Project to build a 169-km rail line from Dhaka to Jashore through the Padma bridge.

CHANGE IN DEADLINE

Although the fast-track project was approved in August 2007, physical work started only in November 2014 mainly due to complications over funding before the government decided to implement the project with its own funds.

After several revisions, the deadline of the project was set to June 2023, including a one-year defect liability period, and the cost rose to Tk 30,193 crore from the original TK 10,161 crore.

On December 10, 2020, when the last span of Padma Bridge was installed, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam had said the bridge would be opened to the public by June 2022.

Obaidul Quader reiterated the deadline on several occasions and on Sunday, after a meeting over the progress of the project, his ministry reconfirmed the deadline in a press release.

The overall progress of the project was 92 percent -- 97 percent in the main bridge and 90.5 percent in river training works, read the press release. The progress of the carpeting work was 65.68 percent.

The meeting was attended, among others, by the cabinet secretary, who earlier had a long tenure as bridge division secretary.

Asked about the prime minister's speech, the cabinet secretary after yesterday's weekly cabinet meeting told reporters, "The original deadline of the project is December 2022. We are trying… I will talk with her [PM]."

He said there is logic behind her speech as the project authorities are facing problems to bring some materials from European countries due to the Ukraine War.

Project sources said aluminium railing for the bridge was supposed to come from a UK factory but it was closed for around two years due to Covid.

"But when the materials were ready for shipment, no ship was found to bring those due to the Ukraine war. The materials were supposed to come within March but the shipment started from UK on March 26. It will take 45 days to reach Bangladesh," said one of the project officials, wishing not to be named.

PADMA RAIL LINK

BR is implementing a Tk 39,246.79 crore Padma Bridge Rail Link Project to build a 169-km rail line from Dhaka to Jashore through the Padma bridge.

BR had plans to start rail operations on the Mawa-Bhanga section on the same day the bridge would be opened for public. The rail track on the bridge would be installed by a BR contractor but BBA has not handed over the bridge for the works, BR officials said.

Padma Bridge Rail Link Project Director Afzal Hossain said they are expecting to start track installation works in the first week of July this year as BBA verbally informed them about handing over the bridge after June.

"We are supposed to take six months to complete the works but we will try to do it within five months by deploying more manpower," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said their contractor had suggested vehicle speed limit between 20 and 25 km per hour or closure of vehicular operations between 10:00pm and 6:00am on the bridge if the road is opened before installation of the tracks as the vibrations caused by vehicles hamper the works.

If the bridge is opened in December, then they would not have to make the request to the BBA, he said.

Replying to another question, he said work of the Mawa-Bhanga section witnessed 78 percent progress and they hoped to get ready to start rail operations on this section by December. Bhanga is already connected to the country's railway network. 

The Daily Star could not reach Shafiqul Islam, project director of Padma Multipurpose Bridge, and BBA Executive Director Monjur Hossain over phone.