About 3,300 metres of the much-hyped Padma Bridge has become visible after the installation of the 22nd span.

The 1-E span was installed on pillar number 5 and 6 of the bridge around 11:32 am on Thursday (Jan 23), said Dewan Abdul Quader, an executive engineer of Padma Bridge Project.

Earlier in the morning, the 150-meter long span was brought near pillar number 5-6 by Tian-E crane at Mawa from Kumarbhog specialised construction yard.

One more span will be installed in this month, said Dewan Abdul Quader.

He added: "Already 21 spans out of 41 were installed in phases, and the rest will be installed by July."

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Monday said all the spans of the Padma Bridge will be installed by July 2020.

He also promised an expected opening year of the bridge to traffic, which is 2021.

Once in operation, the Padma Bridge, Bangladesh’s largest infrastructure project till date, is expected to connect 21 southern districts with Dhaka and boost the GDP by 1%.