The construction work of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Rail Bridge, one of the mega projects of the country, on the Jamuna river has been completed 80 percent. 3.7 kilometers of the 4.8 kilometers long Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Rail Bridge is now visible. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the mega project once it is completed by December this year. There will be a revolutionary change in the communication and transport system of the country with North Bengal. In addition to increasing internal rail connectivity, Bangladesh will be able to connect with the Trans-Asian Railway. Tanvirul Islam, chief engineer of Chief Engineer, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge Construction Project (BSMRBCP), said It will be possible to install the entire span by next May.   At present, 38 trains can run through the Bangabandhu Bridge, 68 trains will be able to run daily after the opening of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Railway Bridge. At the same time, a broad gauge railway project is being constructed between Chilahati in Nilphamari and Chilahati border to establish rail connectivity with India as an international route. At the same time, the economy of the northern part of the country will be accelerated. The construction work of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Rail Bridge is progressing rapidly over the Jamuna. Trains can run at a maximum speed of 250 kilometers per hour on this dual gauge bridge.  Total 49 pillars out of 50 pillars of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Rail Bridge has been completed and only one pillar is yet to be installed.   

Indian Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh has said that after abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 there is a visible change in every field including completion of unfinished projects, implementation of centrally sponsored schemes, infrastructure development and security situation. The Minister reviewed the progress of highways and road projects of Jammu and Kashmir with Managing Director of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited KK Pathak. During the meeting, Singh asked Pathak to expedite the pending projects on a war footing. Pathak told the Minister that all the ongoing projects would be completed in a time-bound manner though some work got hampered due to COVID-19 and timelines had to be increased. Singh said Narendra Modi government has allocated more than Rs 1,08,621 crore budget for Jammu and Kashmir, which is highest ever. The Minister said the budget will help in rebuilding the economy, create jobs and will usher in all-round development for the new Union Territory. The NHIDCL Managing Director said that work on most of 17 highways projects with a sanctioned cost of over Rs 15,385 crore is going on smoothly. Out of 17 approved projects, 12 are in Jammu region, while five are in Kashmir region. Singh noted that out of 12 such projects in Jammu region, six major ones are in his Lok Sabha constituency of Udhampur-Kathua-Doda. These include Chenani-Sudhmahadev Road, Goha-Khellani Package 1 and 2, Goha-Khellani Package 3 that is Khellani Tunnel and Khillani-Khanabal Package-2.   Sihgh, who is also Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, said that out of six prospective projects to be awarded in near future, five are in the Jammu region and Sudhmahadev-Daranga Tunnel package 1 and 2 fall in his parliamentary constituency. Earlier, in March this year, Singh had met Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, for allocation of funds to enable timely completion of the proposed Chattergala tunnel which will connect district Kathua with district Doda in Jammu and Kashmir, en route the new Highway via Basohli-Bani through Chattergalla to touch Bhaderwah and Doda. "This is going to be a historic landmark project providing all-weather alternate road connectivity between the two distant regions and reducing the travel time from Doda to Lakhanpur to just around four hours," Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said in a release. Source: ANI BM

The last span (41st span) of the long-cherished Padma Multi-Purpose Bridge was installed today (Thursday), making the entire bridge visible. “The last span of the bridge was put on 12 and 13 pillars around 11:00am and with installation of the 41st span, a total of 6.15 km (6,150 meters) main structure of the Padma Bridge has become visible,” an official familiar with the process told BSS today. State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury was present during the installation of the span. He also visited Mawa dredging channel this morning. Earlier, Project Director of Padma Multipurpose Bridge Md Shafiqul Islam said that they are hopeful about setting up of the remaining last span by December, adding, “Then the main structure of the mega bridge will be visible.” The Padma Bridge is the largest construction infrastructure since the independence of Bangladesh initiated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The construction work began in December, 2014 with government’s own fund. The construction of the main bridge is being carried out by China Major Bridge Engineering Company (MBEC), a Chinese contractor Company, and the river management is being done by Sino Hydro Corporation of China. Padma Bridge is expected to change not only the socioeconomic structure of southern parts of Bangladesh, but also create positive impacts on the whole economy of the country. It will also connect many countries of South and Southeast Asia and contribute to communication, trade, industry, tourism and many other sectors in various ways. Source: BSS AH

About 6 kilometers of Padma Bridge has become visible with the installation of its 40th span on Friday. The 2E span was installed on pillars 11 and 12 of the bridge at around 10:58am, said Executive Engineer (Bridge) Dewan Md Abdul Quader. Now, only the last span is remaining which will be installed before the Victory Day, he said. The 150 meter long 41st span will be installed on pillars 12 and 13 by December 15, he added. Around 82 percent work of the overall work of the bridge has been completed, Quader said adding that it will be a two-storied rail-road structure. On Nov 27, the 39th span was installed on pillars 10 and 11 at Jazira point. The construction of the Padma Bridge started in 2014 and the mega structure is expected to be open to the public in 2021. Once in operation, the Padma Bridge, Bangladesh’s largest infrastructure project till date, will connect 21 southern districts with the capital and boost the GDP by 1 percent. Source: UNB AH

A 5.85 kilometer stretch of the Padma Bridge's main structure became visible on Friday after the installation of the 39th span. Only two more spans are left to be set up to complete the 6.15 kilometer bridge. The "2-D" span was installed on pillars 10 and 11 at Jazira point, Dewan Abdul Kader, executive engineer and project manager (main bridge), said. "The remaining two spans will be set up within December 15." The construction of the Padma Bridge started in 2014 and the megastructure is expected to be open to the public in 2021. Source: UNB AH

The number 38 span of Padma Bridge has been installed on pillar number 1 and 2 at the Mawa end of Munsiganj. With this the 5,700 meters of the bridge is visible at the moment. Dewan Md. Abdul Quader, the executive engineer and project manager (main bridge) of the under-construction bridge confirmed that the span was installed at around 2:30 pm on Saturday. Earlier the 37th span of the bridge was installed on November 12. The 38th span was installed on the ninth day after that. Only three spans are remaining to install. There are schedules of installing one span in this month and other two in December. The span installing works are nearing to an end. On the other hand at the Jajira end of the bridge works of roadway slab and railway slab are going on. Mentionable, Padma Bridge construction work began in December 2014. The 6.15 kilometers long double deck bridge is being constructed with concrete and steel. Chinese contractor firm China railway major bridge engineering group company limited (MBEC) is constructing the main bridge while another Chinese firm Sino hydro corporation is performing the river training work. AH

The 36th span of the Padma Bridge has been installed this morning five days after setting up the previous one, making a 5400-meter or 5.4-km stretch of the main structure visible. “After installation of 36th span around 9.42am, we are hopeful that the rest five spans are likely to be set up by December 10 and through this, the construction of 6.15-kilometre long bridge will be completed,” said Dewan M Abdul Kader, executive engineer of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge. On November 11, he said the 37th span will be installed on the bridge, 38th on November 16 and the 39th on November 23. On December 2, the 40th span and the remaining one will be installed on December 10, added the official. Meanwhile, the 36th span bearing number ‘1B’ was put on the pillars no 2 and 3 at Mawa point as the span was near the Mawa point. A specialised floating crane picked up the span from Mawa’s Kumarbhog Construction Yard on Thursday morning and transported it to the designated poles at 12.30pm, according to the official. Earlier, on October 31, the 35th span of the Padma Bridge was installed, bringing a total of over 5.2 kilometers of the huge structure into view. The 6.15-km long double-layered bridge will have a total of 41 spans which would be installed on 42 poles — 21 poles at Mawa site and other 21 poles at Jajira point as all the poles have already become visible. Construction of the Padma Bridge began in December 2014. With the installation of 37th and 38th spans in September 2016, the structure became visible for the first time. The construction of the main bridge is being carried out by China Major Bridge Engineering Company (MBEC), a Chinese contractor, while Sino Hydro Corporation, another Chinese company, is working on river management. Meanwhile, Abdul Monem Ltd has built two connecting roads and the infrastructure for the bridge. The structure of the bridge is being constructed with concrete and steel. The multi-purpose Padma Bridge is expected to be opened in 2021. Source: BSS AH

The 18th span of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge was installed on Wednesday at Mawa point making 2.7 kilometers visible out of total 6.15km of the main structure of the bridge. “With the installation of ‘3-E’ span on the 17th and the 18th pillars at the Mawa point, the construction work of about 2700 meters (2.7 kilometres) of the main structure of this mega bridge has been completed,” said Engineer Humayun Kabir of the bridge project. Earlier, the 3-E span was brought in front of the 17th and 18th pillars this morning by a floating crane from construction yard-1 at Mawa point where the span was kept temporarily, he said. After completion of all other works, the span was installed on the pillars at around 1.03 pm, he added. On November 26, the 17th span of the bridge was installed on the 22nd and the 23rd pillars. According to the officials, there is a plan to install three more spans, including ‘4-C’ and ‘3-F’, within this month as five spans remain ready in the construction yard for installation. A total of 17 spans out of 33, which have come from China, have been installed. Along with the spans installation, construction work of roadway slabs and railway slabs is also progressing simultaneously, the officials said. A total of 41 spans will be installed on 42 concrete pillars to complete the bridge. According to the project details, the construction of the 6.15-kilometre long Padma Bridge is going on in full swing with the target to complete it as soon as possible. On October 14, 2018, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina unveiled the name plaque of Padma Bridge Toll Plaza at the Mawa end. According to experts, the national economy is expected to witness 1.2 percent GDP growth rate, while 0.84 percent poverty will be reduced every year after the completion of the bridge to be built with an estimated cost of Taka 30,193.39 crore. The first span of the Padma Bridge was installed on September 30, 2017. Source: BSS AH

Undermining different adverse situation and completion of waiting the 13th span of the Padma bridge was placed between 14 and 15 number pillar at the Mawa end. The works of installing the span was completed at around 10:15 am on Saturday. Through placement of this span now one thousand 950 meters of the bridge is visible. The span was scheduled to place on May 24. But due to inclement weather it was not possible. The activities to install the span began at around 8 am on Saturday. The Padma was rough and the weather was cloudy but the activities were going on. With all out effort of the local and foreign engineers the span was placed successfully between pillar number 14 and 15 at the Mawa end of Munsiganj. The first span of the bridge was placed on September 30, 2017 at the Jazira end. The second span was installed on January 28, 2018. On March 11 the gray color third span was placed. After two months the fourth span was placed on May 13. Then the fifth span was placed on June 29. The sixth span was installed on January 23, 2019. Seventh span was placed on February 20. After one month the eighth span was placed on March 22. The tenth span was installed on April 10. Eleventh span was placed on April 23. On the twelfth day from that date the twelfth span was placed temporarily on May 5. On the other hand the single span at the Mawa end was placed on October 12, 2018 The construction work of the Padma bridge began in December 2014. It will cost 33 thousand crore taka. Chinese contractor firm China Major Bridge Engineering Company is working for construction of main bridge while another Chinese firm Sino Hydro Corporation is performing the river training activities. AH  

With the installation of the seventh span, 1,050-meter of the much awaited Padma Bridge is now visible. The seventh span of the much-hyped mega project was laid on the pillars of 36 and 39 at Jajira point of Shariatpur on Wednesday morning. Out of 1,050 meters, 900-meter of the bridge is visible at the Jajira end and the rest 150-meter at the Mawa end of the river. A vessel carrying the floating crane 'Tian-E', the most powerful crane of the world, anchored at Jazira point from the specialised workshop jetty at Kumarbhogh at 8:30am on Tuesday. The crane put the seventh span weighs 3,200 tonnes on the pillars around 10am On Wednesday. Padma Bridge Executive Engineer Dewan Md Abdul Kader, officials and engineers were present during the installation of the span. After the completion of the installation of seventh span, a huge task is going on in full swing to keep the continuation of the span installation up to pillar No 33. The first span of the bridge was placed on pillars 37 and 38 on September 30, 2017, the second span was laid on pillars 38 and 39 on January 28, 2018, the third span on pillars 39 and 40 on March 11 and the fourth was placed on May 13 the same year. The fifth span was set up on June 29, 2018 while the seventh on October 13. MHK