Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the new Padma Multipurpose Bridge on Saturday.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the new Padma Multipurpose Bridge on Saturday. This historic bridge is the longest bridge in the country and is reported to significantly reduce travel time between the capital, Dhaka, and the seaport of Mongla, which is an important place for regional and international trade. The bridge now connects 21 districts in the southwestern region of Bangladesh with Dhaka and the rest of the country. He also promises to reduce the travel time from Kolkata to Dhaka.
The main deck of this Padma Bridge is 6.15 kilometers long, while the railway viaduct is 0.532 kilometers long. According to a report by ANI, this newly constructed bridge spans a total distance of 10,642 km, including 41 spans which were attached to 42 piers. Each pillar has a distance of 150m between them with one pillar that goes up to 128m deep. This is also claimed as the deepest pilling in the world and interestingly Bangladesh’s Padma Bridge has been ranked the 122nd longest in the world.
The government of Bangladesh said in the report that the completion of the Padma Bridge is a dream come true for 170 million people in the country. “With the construction of the Padma Bridge, the Government of Bangladesh has set an example for other South Asian countries to build the bridge with its own money, which will no doubt encourage other countries to come forward in order to develop good regional connectivity by supporting more projects like this,” a Bangladesh PMO official was quoted in the report.
India’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Vikram Kumar Doraiswami, hailed the infrastructural development, calling the bridge a link between people and culture and not just a pathway to business. “I think it will have a significant benefit on poverty reduction programs, on economic activity,” Doraiswami added.
Construction of the Padma Bridge started in 2015 and the last construction span was completed in December last year.
(With agency contributions)
Date of first publication: June 25, 2022, 1:44 PM IST
