With the Padma Bridge opening drawing near, the bridge has been illuminated by lighting up all 415 lamp-posts from Munshiganj's Mawa to Shariatpur's Zajira end, on Tuesday evening — Focus Bangla All the leftover machinery used in Padma Bridge construction will go into an ornate museum as exhibits of engineering wonders.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Tuesday issued a directive for the authorities concerned to keep the memories in a museum in Bhanga area of Faridpur at the other end of the iconic bridge.
The premier asked for setting up the museum on Padma Bridge at a suitable place in Bhanga considering scenic beauty there as well as the connecting roads and flyovers centering the bridge.
After the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting on the day, State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam informed journalists about the plans surrounding the record-making mega-infrastructure.
"Some instruments and equipment used for constructing the bridge would be preserved as memories at the proposed museum," Mr Alam said.
The PM would also take picture with the construction workers on the Padma Bridge site when she goes there for opening the bridge on June 25, Dr Alam said.
The prime minister's direction came at the ECNEC meeting where the highest government economic policy body gave its seal of approval on 10 projects involving an aggregate cost of Tk 108.55 billion.
After the meeting, Dr Shamsul Alam said out of the total Tk 108.55 billion cost, Tk 51.42 billion will come from government's internal resources while Tk 7.56 billion from organizations' own funds and the rest Tk 49.56 billion from external resources as project assistance.
Of the 10 approved projects, six are new while four revised.
Terming the Padma Bridge a structure of 'national pride' which reflects the indomitable courage of the prime minister as well as financial capability of the government, Dr Alam said the overall cost of the bridge is not higher if inflation is adjusted.
The state minister said the Padma Bridge was constructed at a rational expenditure although the DPP of the project was revised several times.
Answering to a question, Planning Commission Member Mamun Al Rashid informed that international-standard rehabilitation was ensured during the implementation of the bridge with around Tk120 billion while as much (around Tk120 billion) was spent for the main structure of the bridge that accounts for less than Tk20-billion expenditure per kilometer.
Meanwhile, the dream bridge boasts three world records-two for the first time in the world-to make the country's longest bridge recognized globally, according to project officials.
According to document of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) office, 122- metre pile driving is the longest and made the foundation deepest in the world.
The largest double-curvature friction-pendulum bearing used in the Tk 301.93 billion bridge project can take load of 98,725 kilonewton (KN) and protect the 6.15-kilometre bridge with 3.68km viaduct from earthquake level of more than 7 on Richter scale. Besides, river-training works of the PMB project are the largest single contract in the world, which is US$ 1.1 billion.
Project Director Mohammad Shafiqul Islam says the bridge has also other features to be unique from country's other big bridge infrastructures.
"Waterproof membrane is applied in the steel-truss concrete bridge to control water absorbance in both concrete and bitumen," he says, adding that waterproof membrane is used in European infrastructures to protect those from snowfall for a long time. Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader also said the hammer used in the piling is also specially made to carry the deepest foundation of the bridge.
The weight of the hammer is 3,500 tonnes.
The project officials said two pile-related engineering works are also done in the bridge for the first time in the world.
Bridge construction over the mighty river Padma began in 2016 but it took two more years to finally start with confirmed pile tests due to change of design in piers.
The bridge addresses the river ecosystems, conservation of biodiversity and sustainable use of biological resources which the project officials claimed were not followed in other bridges like Meghna-Gumpti and Bangabandhu Jamuna bridge construction.
kabirhumayan10@gmail.com
smunima@yahoo.com
© 2026 - All Rights with The Financial Express
