Bangladesh is set to touch another milestone on Saturday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurating the country’s largest megastructure on the mighty Padma River to facilitate a new era of progress in the south and southwestern regions of the country.
The construction of the 6.15km-long bridge ended earlier this month – built with government funds and overcoming many challenges that appeared on the road to materialize the dream project initiated nearly two decades ago.
The Awami League government has taken massive preparations to make the grand opening memorable while millions of people of the country are waiting with utmost eagerness to be a part of the celebrations as the bridge will make the travel easier and create scopes for economic advancement in the 21 districts of the south and southwestern region.
After inaugurating the bridge at Mawa end in Munshiganj, the premier’s convoy will cross the bridge paying tolls, and she will address a mammoth rally in Shibchar of Madaripur.
Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune
Ruling party leaders hope to organize a gathering of some one million people to greet Sheikh Hasina in her first public appearance in the southwestern part of the country since late 2018.
The Padma Bridge will cut the travel time for the people visiting the capital city for education or treatment, and facilitate trade.
Currently, people can cross the river through ferries, launches and speedboats which means suffering at the wharf, and canceled trips due to dense fog, storms and disasters. Sometimes, it becomes impassable due to high currents or low navigability.
The sufferings increase manifold when holidaymakers want to cross the river en masse during the Eid celebrations and other vacations, when the commuters, as well as freight vehicles, have to wait in long queues for hours to get a ferry.
From Sunday, people will be able to cross the river within six minutes through the Padma Bridge.
“The long-cherished dream of Padma Bridge is now a reality. This will boost the country’s economy,” Planning Minister Abdul Mannan told Dhaka Tribune on Friday.
“The people of the southern region are planning to invest more than what we’ve estimated. Thus, the bridge can contribute more than 1.23% to the country’s GDP,” he added.
The superstructure will create more opportunities from next year when rail tracks will be established on the lower deck to connect Dhaka with Jessore, thus reducing the travel time significantly.
Millions of new dreams in the front
As the bridge got the highest priority of the government and its construction never stopped despite many challenges, the people of the southern districts started drafting various plans for investing in businesses like agriculture, farm, livestock, fisheries, housing, transport, tourism, and other small and heavy industries.
“Growth in agriculture will be faster in the southern part of the country and various industries will be set up very quickly due to smooth connectivity through the Padma Bridge,” said Dr Khandaker Golam Moazzem, research director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune“The economic situation of the country has improved much since the per capita income now stands at $2,591 from $407 in 1998. It is expected to reach $12,500 by 2041 as the southern part of the country can contribute much more now due to the Padma Bridge,” he told Dhaka Tribune.Thus, business persons involved in agriculture are very much optimistic that the bridge will create positive impacts on the agri-based districts under Barisal and Khulna divisions. The farmers will get fair prices as the cultivation of paddy, fish, shrimp and various vegetables is the main income source for the people.
Around 10 million people in this region are directly or indirectly involved in agro-based businesses. Now, they will be able to expand their markets in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.
Member of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI)'s Standing Committee on Tourism and Hospitality Management Nasir Uddin Badal said that no tourism-based industry had developed in Shariatpur yet.
“However, there is a huge potential for tourism and housing business centring the Padma Bridge,” he added.
Shamim Talukder, a banker, said: “I bought a flat at Mohammadpur instead of building a house at my homeland Shariatpur due to hassles in trvelling through ferry. Now I plan to build my dream home in my town.”
Private job holder Faruk Ahmed said: “I do a job in Dhaka but cannot meet up my expenditures with the income. Thus, I decided to leave Dhaka and settle in Madaripur to do business. I am planning to supply agro-products in Dhaka.”
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Celebrating the opening ceremony
While the inauguration has already become a talk of the country, the government has adorned the streets of Dhaka and elsewhere, as well as the Dhaka-Mawa-Faridpur Highway with decorative banners and festoons. The ceremony will be televised on large screens everywhere.
Sheikh Hasina will join the inaugural ceremony at Mawa point in Munshiganj at 10am. She will also unveil commemorative postage stamps, souvenir sheets, opening day cover and seals at 11am at Mawa point to mark the grand opening.
The premier will formally open the Padma Bridge by unveiling the inaugural plaque and mural-1 after paying the toll at the Mawa point at 11:12am.
She will cross the bridge to reach Zajira point and unveil the inaugural plaque of the bridge and mural-2.
Later, she will join the rally at Elias Ali Khan Ghat of Shibchar in Madaripur at 12 noon.
The stage is a miniature Padma Bridge, with 10 spans set over 11 pillars. A huge boat will float over the water directly before the stage, giving the impression that it is floating past the bridge.
The making of the engineering marvel
Construction of the bridge started on November 26, 2014. The deadline for completion of the work under the contract was November 25, 2018. Later, though, the deadline was extended.
China Major Bridge Company under China Railway Group Limited was contracted for the construction of the main bridge and Sinohydro Corporation Limited of China for the link road, of which the contract value was Tk12,133.39 crore and Tk8,707.81 crore respectively.
Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka Tribune The Awami League government initiated the project in 1998. The pre-feasibility study of the project began in 1999 with government financing. Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone of the project on July 4, 2001.
In 2007, the then government approved the project at an estimated Tk10,161 crore but dropped the rail link from the plan.
In 2010, the Awami League government invited pre-qualification tenders while the World Bank signed an agreement of $1.2 billion to finance the project. But as the lending agency withdrew from the project, raising allegations of bribery conspiracy, the premier decided to build the bridge with the country’s own resources.
In 2011, the Ecnec approved a revised cost of Tk20,507.20 crore for the project. In 2016, when the expenditure was increased again by Tk8,286 crore, the total cost stood at Tk28,793.39 crore.
In January of 2017, a Canadian court acquitted all accused of charges of corruption and termed the case baseless as it had been based on speculation, gossip and rumours.
The records
According to the Bangladesh Bridge Authority, the piles of the Padma Bridge have been laid at a depth of 120-127 metres in the soil of the fast-flowing Padma. No other bridge in the world has such a deep pile.
The capacity of the “Fractional Pendulum Bearing” used in the Padma Bridge construction is 10,000 tons. So far, no bridge has been fitted with such a capacity. As a result, the bridge has the ability to withstand magnitude 9 earthquakes.
The world’s largest crane hired from China was used to build the Padma Bridge. It cost the authorities Tk3,000,000 per month as rent. A total of Tk12.60 crore was paid for the crane – costs around Tk2,500 crore – as it was used for three and a half years. Such a large crane has never been rented for a long period in the world yet.