Home ›› 25 Jun 2022 ›› News
The Padma Bridge represents courage, determination and prosperity, said Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming while sharing his views and thoughts on the project with journalists in Dhaka.
Li Jiming said he is proud of and connected to the bridge, not only because it is built by a Chinese company, but also because it is a milestone of China-Bangladesh cooperation.
“In fact, whenever President Xi Jinping mentions Bangladesh, he will mention the Padma Bridge. News related to the bridge has also been covered by various TV channels in China,” he told reporters.
Li Jiming believes that the bridge would benefit the people of Bangladesh, contribute to the connectivity of South Asia, and serve as an everlasting bond of brotherhood between China and Bangladesh.
“Whenever I think of the bridge, 3 words come to my mind: courage, determination and prosperity,” he added.
The Padma Bridge is a symbol of courage. Back in the days when the government of Bangladesh was conceiving the idea of the bridge, there were some complications regarding finance, technical viability and legitimacy of the plan.
Some partners from abroad did not believe such a plan could ever materialise. Nevertheless, Prime Minister Sheikh steeled herself for all the doubts, pressures and allegations, and decided to build the bridge with Bangladesh’s own finance, which required tremendous courage and a strong sense of political responsibility.
In fact, at the very beginning, it was not easy for the Chinese company to decide whether or not to submit the tender either.
There were strong competitions from France, South Korea and Singapore; the natural environment for the construction was tough and unfamiliar; the preliminary design was not fully completed, and most importantly, the Padma Bridge is so far the largest bridge Chinese companies had ever built outside China.
“So I think accepting the challenge was also a courageous step taken by the Chinese side,” he said.
Li Jiming said that with only a preliminary design in hand, the engineers of the project had to overcome the “unforeseeable physical conditions,” figure out the actual parameters in the river and then complete and modify the design, which took almost two years.
The project involves 13 technologies which have never been used in the world, so the whole project was full of experiments that nobody had ever done before.
“The unique hydrographic features of the River Padma posed the most daunting challenge. The sand and soft clay under the river could not provide enough support to the pillars, so the steel piles had to be driven 120 meters deep into the river bed,” he described.
“On average, it required 20 to 30 thousand blows to drive one pile into position. Five state-of-the-art hydraulic pile hammers, including the largest one in the world, were deployed, and three of them were broken due to heavy workloads,” he said.
River also said that the Covid-19 pandemic put everything on pause, yet the project managed to secure the line of logistics, provide close-loop accommodation to around 3000 engineers and workers.
Describing the prospect of the bridge, the Ambassador said that the bridge will connect the northeastern and southwestern parts of Bangladesh, promoting the exchange of goods, labor, capital and services within the whole country.
Li Jiming stated that more than 80 million people, which account for half of Bangladesh’s population, will benefit from the bridge.
“Moreover, it serves as the missing link of the Trans Asian Railway and Asian Highway Network, and will become an integral part of BCIM,” he said.
Since the beginning of the project, more than 50,000 new jobs have been created. Through the project, a huge amount of local workers have become skilled labourers.
In fact, a bridge like that will not merely connect two pieces of land, it will also connect our two peoples by heart, leading the way to common prosperity and shared future, he said with optimism.
