First span on 6.15km long road and rail Padma Bridge is installed

A very visible milestone was reached on the Padma Bridge project in Bangladesh this week, when the first of the 41 spans was successfully installed on piers 37 and 38. The installation of the 150m long span (superstructure) took just two hours to be installed on the morning of 30 September 2017 and was witnessed by local dignitaries including Road Transport and Bridges Minister, Obaidul Quader.

Rendel are acting as the Management Support Consultancy to the Bangladesh Bridge Authority for the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project which is currently being built by China Major Bridge Engineering Company Ltd.

The 6.15km bridge is well under way and the second span will be installed on piers 38 and 39, at the end of October. The precast concrete road upper deck will follow the installation of each span on the top chord of the steel truss as will the lower railway deck which will be located on the bottom transverse truss members. The remaining 39 spans will now be added gradually. On completion, expected in December 2018, the Padma Multipurpose Bridge will be the largest bridge in Bangladesh.

The bridge will connect Bangladesh’s southwest region to the rest of the country and form part of the Asian Highway No. 1 and the TransAsian Railway network. It is expected to promote trade and the economy of Bangladesh.