The government maintains that the construction of the 6.15-kilometre long Padma Bridge will finish by November this year, but a senior project official says he has “no doubts” over failing the deadline.
Bangladesh is building the two-storey bridge for vehicles and trains with its own fund through the contractor, China's Major Bridge Engineering Company Ltd, after leaving the World Bank out of the project following complexities over corruption allegation.
The Tk 287.93 billion ‘Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project (PMBP)’ started in November 2014 after the fund and site selection issues were resolved. However, the river training process and construction of link roads had begun earlier.
In the first revision, the project was extended up to the end of 2015, and in the second revision, the target to finish the work was set at November 2018, which now seems to be set for another extension.
“The work is going in a full swing, but it will be not completed by the deadline. There’s no doubt that it needs to extended,” said PMBP Manager and Executive Engineer Dewan Mohammad Abdul Quader.
Contractor China Major Bridge Co, however, is yet to officially approach for an extension, he told Bangla Tribune.
In May 13 this year, the fourth span of the bridge was installed, making a total of 600 metres of the structure visible.
The first span was installed on Sep 30 last year while the second and third respectively on Jan 20 and Mar 11 in this year.
The construction authorities expect to install the fifth span between late July and early August with 37 more left for the bridge.
Speaking to Bangla Tribune, senior PMBP official Quader, however, could not provide a specific timeline for finishing the construction.
In a report filed in November last year, the government’s Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) said the project was running at least eight months behind schedule.
It said around 48 percent work to set up bridge ended as of October last year.