Padma Bridge faces serious design problems

I expressed my concern before the start of the construction work of Padma Bridge about two years ago and repeated the same several times and also most recently that mismatch of soil strength at piers locations might cause problems. I sent copies of my views to newspapers and also to reporters of different newspapers.

The Financial Express carried a front page news item on the issue written by Munima Sultana titled " Padma Bridge Construction: Design flaws found in eight more piers" wherein the reporter voiced the same concern as mine. Some of the important issues expressed in the report are:

1. Sources engaged in the project said the current complicated situation arose for starting construction before confirmation of all the piers and for not conducting necessary detailed surveys on the river according to universal norms.

2. The work on Padma Bridge construction is increasingly getting complicated for difficulty in resolving the problems that have cropped up with its design.

3. While the project office was finding it hard to solve design-related problems concerning 14 piers of the 6.15 kilometer bridge during the last couple of months, it is now facing new problems with eight piers, some of which have already been partially constructed.

4. The Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project (PMBP) authorities are now learnt to be worried about the total 22 piers (out of 40 piers) of the Bridge being built over one of Bangladesh's mighty rivers, the Padma.

In the meantime one year extension has been allowed to both Bridge Construction and River Training Chinese contractors. The expert panel headed by Dr Jamilur Reza and other panel members also said that there would be a delay of 8 months or so in construction. But the situation has become more complicated with design problems of eight more piers. Rendel, the Project Management Consultant also thinks that there would be a delay.

The Financial Express expressed the same concern as mine made about two years ago and just before the construction work kicked off.

Luthfe Ali

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