The Padma Bridge, constructed by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group, is the largest infrastructure project in Bangladesh's history. (PHOTO: Li Xiang Ding Haidong)

By Staff Reporters

After eight years of construction, the Padma Bridge built by a Chinese enterprise opened to traffic on June 25, expected to effectively promote regional connectivity and economic development in Bangladesh and South Asia.

The bridge is expected to contribute 1.23 percentage points to Bangladesh's GDP growth and reduce the poverty rate by 0.84 percentage point per year, said Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, adding that as a major part of the Asian Highway Network, the bridge will also contribute greatly to regional trade.

New economic zones and high-tech parks will be built in the vicinity of the bridge. As a result, domestic and foreign investment will be attracted and the pace of industrialization of the country will be accelerated, the prime minister said.

For Bangladeshis, a dream has come true. The completion of the "Dream Padma Bridge" has brought an end to the history of crossing the mighty Padma River between dozens of districts in southern Bangladesh and the capital of Dhaka by ferries or boats only, shortening the travel time from nearly eight hours to only ten minutes.

The mega multipurpose road-rail bridge, with the main bridge spanning 6.15 km in length, was constructed by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co, Ltd (MBEC). It is the largest and most challenging infrastructure project in Bangladesh's history.

Composed mainly of ultra-fine sand and soft clay, the riverbed of the Padma River is very weak and unstable, which posed great construction challenges, said Shen Tao, deputy project manager of the bridge from MBEC.

To stabilize the bridge, the builders had to fix steel piles 120 meters deep into the riverbed, which needed to be hammered in an average of 20,000 to 30,000 times per pile, said Li Jiming, Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh.

According to MBEC, the project has created more than 50,000 jobs for local residents since the beginning of construction. Bangladeshi workers have improved their skills during the construction process, and can now work on other large projects with the experience gained.