The seventh span of the Padma Bridge—sixth span at Zajira point in Shariatpur—has been installed on the 36th and 37th pillars of the bridge.
Span 6F was installed around 9:50am on Wednesday, after six long months, making 900 metres of the bridge now visible.
The span, 150 metres long and weighing about 3,140 tons, was transported from Mawa construction yard, Munshiganj, to Shariatpur’s Zajira upazila point—on Tuesday morning—by the Tiyan E crane that can bear up to 3,600 tons.
Assistant Engineer of the Padma Bridge Project, Humayun Kabir, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We started to work on this span in the morning; given our experience with installing the previous five.”
He said all the brief details—such as: a weight test, trial load test, base plate, pile position, and measurements—have already been closely monitored by a panel of experts. The span was positioned over the pillar with the help of a lifting crane.
However, it will take some more days for the span to sit permanently as it has been placed on a temporary bearing, he added.
6F has been successfully placed on the bridge with the effort of local and foreign engineers. However, due to navigability issues, the installment process was prolonged.
Meanwhile, the correspondent learned another span has been placed on the 4th and 5th pillars of the Padma Bridge at Mawa point.
The first span of the Padma Bridge was installed on September 30, 2017. The second span was installed four months later on January 28, 2018; while the third one was placed on March 11, after one and a half months.
The fourth span was positioned on May 13, after two months. After one month and 16 days, the fifth span was installed on June 29.
According to the engineers concerned, a total of 41 spans will be installed on 42 concrete pillars.
