The Padma Bridge

Bangladesh University of Professionals, 2021

Bangladesh is a developing country; its recent government is trying to progress in developing infrastructure as it is one of the most significant prerequisites to the total development of the country. The recent government has taken various and massive initiatives for infrastructure

JOURNAL OF ASIAN AND AFRICAN SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES, 2021

Bangladesh is a riverine country and most of the public transport and business depends on the river. Padma is one of the vital rivers to influence the country’s economy as well as GDP. Realising the fact, Bangladesh is constructing the Padma Multipurpose Bridge over the Padma river with associated facilities are of great importance for the sustaiable development of Bangladesh. This project has significant impacts on the whole country and contributes to the socio-economic and industrial development on southwest region in Bangladesh. In this regard, this study focuses on the impacts of Padma Multipurpose Bridge on the sustainable development of Bangladesh in terms of social, cultural, economical, environmental and industrial issues. Qualitative research method has been applied in this research to collect data from secondary sources. The study finds a number of massive positive impacts on the socio-economic development in Bangladesh with extreme GDP growth rate. In addition, in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the Padma Multipurpose Bridge will contribute enormously in the national economy and the overall development of Bangladesh.

Pratnatattva Journal of the Dept. of Archaeology Jahangirnagar University, Vol. 26, June 2020: 51-60, 2020

As a riverine country, bridges always play a very significant role in transport system of Bangladesh from the Ancient Period. Medieval bridges of Bangladesh are remarkable achievements of design and engineering, and are proof of the great importance of road transportation in this period. Many bridges were constructed during both the Sultani and Mughal Periods. The Mughal Subahdars realized the urgency of uniting the river routes of the whole Bengal and constructed a series of culverts and bridges throughout the country. There are some references of bridges in inscriptions also. However, a large number of these bridges have disappeared, in ruins, in some cases, preserved or repaired by giving a modern look. This paper documented some of the Medieval bridges of Bangladesh. In the wake of Mughal conquest of Bengal in 1576 the whole country, especially the southeastern Bengal, was a flame with uprisings and a stiff resistance struggle was spearheading by the freshly ousted Afghan warlords in alliance with equally refractory Bara-Bhuiyans. The pacification effort of the Mughals, therefore, did not necessarily coincide with the conquest of the province. The unsettled political condition of the country and the constant and repeated clashes between the belligerent armies largely destroyed in their blazing tails, whatever overland communication system existed in the country at that time. The immediate task of Islam Khan, therefore, was to establish a network of both water routes and overland road communication for the speedy movement of his armies and river flotilla. The contemporary Baharistan refers to many such activities of Islam Khan, the Mughal governor of Bengal (1608-1613 AD) under the Emperor Jahangir. The vestiges of a few of these and those built later by succeeding Subadars are still precariously surviving the ravages of time. The Mughal Subadars readily realized the urgency of constructing a series of culverts and bridges throughout the country, largely enmeshed by a bewildering network of watercourses traversing the low flood plain. Here some bridges belonging to the Sultanate, Mughal and Late Mughal Period are described. A. Bridges of Sultanate Period Stone is not available in Bangladesh. Hence, here monuments and bridges were mainly built of bricks, which are not very much durable in the soil of Bangladesh where too much rain fall and rank vegetation occur. Almost all the bridges built in the Sultanate Period have either been damaged or become extinct. However the ruins of a few bridges of the Sultanate Period survive in the suburb of Gaur in Nawabganj district and at Ghoraghat Fort and Dhorail in Dinajpur district. 1. Bridges of Gaur The ruins of three bridges are marked in the southern Suburban areas of the Gaur citadel (Ahmed 1997: 41-49). These three bridges have been noticed and described by Sultan Ahmed, Professor of Islamic History and Culture, University of Rajshahi. Of the three bridges, two are single-arched; measuring five meters (5m) long by 1.2 meters broad; seven meters (7m) long by two meters (2m) broad. These two bridges are small and probably served the purpose of culverts erected on ancient roads over nalas or creeks. The rest one has almost completely been damaged except the traces of two arms on either side (Ahmed 1997: 41-49). This was probably a three-arched bridge constructed over a canal that starts from beel Bhatia and passes through villages Daulatbari and Mirjapur; finally falls into the Pagla River at the southwest corner of Gaur citadel. These three bridges do not contain any Inscription and hence it is difficult to assign them to any definite date. However they probably belonged to the Sultanate Period.

A country " s economic development generally depends on the degree of infrastructural development of that country. Though Bangladesh is a developing country, its recent government is trying to progress in developing infrastructure as it is one of the most significant prerequisites to the total development of the country. The recent government has taken various and massive initiatives for infrastructure development. Padma bridge construction is the largest and bold project in the history of Bangladesh. The Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB), the 25th longest bridge in the world, will be constructed within 2018 aimed at contributing to the overall economic development in Bangladesh by eliminating all hurdles to the southwest corridor and activating economic exchanges between the regions. The purpose of the study is to determine and measure the Economic Prospect of Padma Bridge in Bangladesh including GDP, GNP, standard of living, infrastructure development in transportation and communication, industrial growth and employment opportunities etc. that are hinged on Padma Multipurpose Bridge. Padma Multipurpose Bridge is Government " s self-financing, courageous and biggest project which will cover the entire development of the overall economic activities and ensures quality of life that will be derived from the implementation of the project. From the viewpoint of development researcher, If a country has to develop from economic to social, it must develop its infrastructures The study investigates, measure, and evaluates whether The Padma Bridge would bring economic prospect from the reflection light of peoples " perceptions. To do this Five-Point Likert Scale has been used to survey people who are inhabitants and experts of these regions. As samples of 100 respondents (selective samples) have been surveyed since they represent all population segments in the country. This paper reports on the findings of a study to examine the economic prospects of the country based on primary and secondary data regarding the project.

MIST journal of science and technology, 2022

An iconic building linking Bangladesh's southwest to its northern and eastern areas is the Padma bridge, which spans the third-largest river in the world with a complicated topology. By boosting production, employment, transportation, and the national and regional economy, this multipurpose bridge is projected to boost GDP growth by 1.2%. This study's primary goal is to pinpoint the greatest challenges encountered during Padma Bridge's construction and explain how sustainable management procedures might be put in place to address such difficulties. The most challenging tasks included finding a suitable site, dealing with complex river morphology, overcoming geotechnical barriers, controlling unfavorable environmental conditions, assembling massive construction equipment and materials, maintaining the construction schedule, and dealing with the COVID epidemic. To resolve these construction challenges, massive river training works and a unique pile foundation design that consists of six floating heaps and one center pile with the largest raking pile in the center were both utilized. To get around the difficulties in superstructural design, longer pre-assembled steel truss girders, pre-tensioned Super-T girders in viaducts, seismic isolation devices, and the largest friction pendulum bearings in the world were all made. Only a small number of people experienced COVID-19 without any fatalities or causing delays in the construction schedule since the Project was kept operational during the COVID-19 period by tightly enforcing the COVID laws and limits on people's mobility. The field of construction management would undergo a paradigm shift with this sustainable management of construction-related difficulties, which might later be used to design more intricate bridges.

Journalism and Media

This study aims to determine how the global media covered the Padma Bridge inauguration news and its contribution to achieving the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of Bangladesh. After overcoming several obstacles, Bengalis’ desire to use their own money is set to become a reality. In this study, both qualitative and quantitative methods were used. The first stage was using convenience the sampling method to gather information on the Padma Multipurpose Bridge’s opening, from 25 June to 25 July 2022, from the usual worldwide media and TV networks. The information coverage of several news sources from various countries was subsequently investigated utilizing the content analysis approach. In one way, newspaper stories, expert comments, research papers on the Padma Bridge, government reports, the Bangladesh Planning commission, and finance ministry records have all been analysed to collect the Padma Bridge’s role in fulfilling SDGs. The data show that the Padma Bridge, which showca...