Almost half of the much-hyped Padma Bridge will be visible after the installation of the 20th span in on Tuesday. The span has been taken near pillar no 18-19 by Tian-E crane at Mawa at 9am from Kumarbhog specialised construction yard. The 3,600-ton 3-F span is expected to be installed by 1 pm, said Dewan Abdul Quader, an executive engineer of Padma Bridge Project. He also said the authorities have planned to install three spans every month and all of 41 spans will be installed by July 2020. In the meantime, 33 spans have arrived at Mawa from China while two spans are on the way. The works of constructing six more spans are going on in China, said Dewan adding that all of the 41 spans will arrive here by March. On December 11 and 18, the 18th and 19th spans were installed respectively. Road Transport and Bridges Minister ObaidulQuader on Monday said all the spans of the Padma Bridge will be installed by July 2020.

He also said the bridge will be opened to traffic by 2021.

Once in operation, the Padma Bridge, Bangladesh’s largest infrastructure project till date, will connect 21 southern districts with the capital and boost the GDP by 1 percent.