The much-hyped Padma Bridge is now almost five kilometers (4,800 meters) visible as 32 number span '1D' has been installed on Sunday.
After four months, the engineers and officials concerned installed the span over the fourth and fifth pillar of the bridge. With the installation of the span the shape of the Padma Bridge has now got a similar length as Bangabandhu Bridge.
Dewan Md Abdul Kader, Executive Engineer (bridge) of the Padma Bridge project, confirmed the matter to Bangladesh Post. Now, there are only nine spans left to complete the bridge.
The 'Tian-E' floating crane with a capacity of 3,600 tons carrying a gray span of 150 meters in length and weighing 3,140 tons departed from Mawa Construction Yard in Munshiganj on Saturday. After crossing a distance of about one kilometer, span carrying crane reached near the 4th and 5th pillars of the bridge at around 2 pm on the same day. Since then attempts have been made to anchor the span-carrying crane, but due to the strong current in the river span installation delayed till Sunday morning.
After the installation of all the spans, the bridge will be connected between Shariatpur and Munshiganj and the bridge will be fully visible. According to project officials, another two or three spans are likely to be installed this month. Five other spans will be installed in November and the last two in December.
Kader said there were only nine spans left to be installed on the Padma Bridge. These will sit on pillars 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 at the Mawa point. All span placements will be completed by December. The spans are now in the Mawa Construction Yard. 'One-A' span on piers 1 and 2 of the bridge, 'One-B' span on piers 2 and 3, and 'One-C' span on pillars 3 and 4 are fully ready to install. The 33rd span is scheduled to be installed on piers 3 and 4 on October 20.
The officials concerned of the project said that their goal was to complete the construction of the bridge by next year. Now that the floodwaters in the Padma have receded, the intensity of the current has returned to normal. As a result, the construction work of Padma Bridge has also gained momentum.
