Bangladesh is building its largest infrastructure Padma Bridge despite the coronavirus pandemic, but the crisis has thrown the timely completion of the project into uncertainty. People related with the project say some foreign consultants have left due to the outbreak while physical distancing rules have forced the authorities to cut the number of workers.

Some problems that had surfaced initially when the pandemic had begun, such as short supply of cement from the factories in virus hotspots and other materials from China, are over now.

The number of workers at the project has been cut to 3,200 from 4,500 so that they can maintain physical distancing, according to its Executive Engineer Dewan Md Abdul Kader.

No one is allowed to leave or enter the site either as it went into lockdown on Mar 20 after the first coronavirus cases were detected in Bangladesh, he said.

It is natural that the physical distancing and other health rules have impacted the flow of work, Kader said.
Moreover, 20 out of the 200 consultants have left Bangladesh and their return is uncertain, Kader said.  

“We are trying to complete the work with this manpower within the expected time. But the matter depends on how long the pandemic lasts,” he added.

The government had targeted to finish the Padma Bridge Project in the first half of 2021 by installing three spans a month, but the workers could set up only one in June.

The 6.15 kilometre bridge will have 41 spans on 42 piers. The workers have installed 31 spans so far.

Kader said there will be no problem in installing the rest of the spans as China has delivered all of them.

The work will be in the final stages by June next year, he hopes.
“The supply of cement from the factories in Narayanganj is normal now after some disruptions due to the outbreak there,” Kader said.

The workers have laid 1,105 out of 2,959 railway slabs and 630 out of 2,917 roadway slabs until the end of May, according to him.

The progress in construction of the main bridge was 88 percent in May while the entire project achieved 80 percent progress with 4.65 kilometres of the bridge visible. As much as 28 percent river training work remained unfinished at the time.

Chinese contractor China Railway Major Bridge Engineer Group is primarily overseeing the construction of the Padma Bridge. Sinohydro Corporation, another Chinese firm, is conducting the river training work for the project.

The government has also constructed Dhaka-Bhanga Expressway to ensure that the people can fully utilise the Padma Bridge once it is constructed. Bangladesh’s GDP is expected to grow by an additional 1.5 percent once the bridge is in full operation.

[Additional reporting by Munshiganj Correspondent Farhana Mirza]

https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2020/06/25/coronavirus-casts-shadow-on-padma-bridge-construction-on-time