The 26th span of the 6.15-kilometre long Padma Bridge has been installed at the end of Zajira in Shariatpur, making 3.9km of the main structure of the bridge visible.

The 5-D span was installed on pillars number 28 and 29 of the bridge around 9am on Tuesday (Mar 10), Humayun Kabir, deputy assistant engineer of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project, told Bangla Tribune.

Earlier, the 150-meter long span was brought near the pillars by a floating crane from Mawa's Kumarbhog construction yard on Monday morning, he said.

Meanwhile, the construction of 40 pillars out of 42 has already been finished.

According to Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, all the spans (41) of the bridge will be installed by July 2020.

He also said the bridge would be opened to traffic by 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%.

The two-storey bridge is being constructed out of steel and concrete. The main bridge is being built by the China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited.