By Sumi Khan Dhaka 31 December : .Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh was accompanied Friday by Sheikh Rehana.
She had won a challenge from the World Bank and promised that Bangladesh would finish the Padma Bridge project on its own after corruption allegations.
In 2014, Sheikh Hasina challenged the World Bank and announced that her country would construct the bridge using funds from its citizens.
A Canadian court ruled that the allegations of corruption had been proven unfounded.The Anti-Corruption Commission of Canada (ACC), also investigated the matter and found no evidence that there was any corruption.
Hasina crossed the bridge shortly after 7:15 a.m.Friday and took a 2-kilometre walk on the bridge with her sister.They were the last survivors of Bangabandhu Shiikh Mujibur Rahman after August 1975’s assassination that almost destroyed it.
As she watched the progress on the bridge construction, the Premier was happy and satisfied.
Hasina, who had attended a breakfast hosted by Bangladesh Bridge Authority at Janzira Point at 10:15 a.m., left the area.
With the installation of the first spans on pillars 37-38, the Padma Bridge was visible from September 30, 2017.The work to install all spans took 38 months.
The Padma Multipurpose Bridge, which was completed on December 9th, is 6,150m long.It ranks right above the Oland Bridge in Sweden.
Because they are located in three districts, the bridge’s connecting road and toll plaza have been destroyed.It spans 6.15km and is joined by 41 spans, each measuring 150m long, on 42 pillars.
Two-storey concrete and metal bridges allow road transport to be plied on the upper level and trains on lower levels.
There will be 2,917 road slabs to transport vehicles and 2,959 rail slabs for trains.As of November 30, 1,239 slabs for road transports were installed, and 1,860 slabs for railways.
A 4-kilometer viaduct has been built on either side of the bridge, and does not include a steel span.
Md ShafiqulIslam, Project Director, said that the bridgework could be complete by 2022, as it was delayed because of the pandemic.
The Padma Bridge project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council in 2007.It cost 10,162 million takas.
The original plan was for the bridge to be completed by 2013.The bridge was originally scheduled to be completed by 2013.
The project’s cost almost doubled as a consequence.
For the Padma Bridge Project, which is estimated to cost $2.9 billion, $1,200m was pledged by the World Bank, $615m from the ADB, $415m by the JICA, and $140m for IDB.This project will improve connectivity for 19 districts in the south-west.
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