Staff Reporter: The Padma Bridge is being built with the ability to handle four types of shocks and disasters, including natural disasters and earthquakes, said Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam.

The former secretary of the Bangladesh Bridge Department, the authority that built the Padma Bridge, said that the Padma Bridge is the largest project built on any river in the contemporary world. This bridge under construction is called the 'Dream Bridge' of Bangladesh. Now that all 41 spans of the bridge have been installed, it has got a complete structure of 6.15 km in length. This bridge with concrete structure poles and steel spans is so strong that it can withstand earthquakes of magnitude 8 on the Richter scale.

He added, 'If there is ever an earthquake of magnitude 8 on the Richter scale. And only if the soil moves 65 meters from the bottom of the pillar. At the same time if the whole bridge is loaded with rails and vehicles. At that time, another ship weighing 5,000 metric tons came and hit the pillar of the bridge, but nothing will happen to the Padma Bridge.

The construction of the bridge started in December 2015 and was supposed to be completed in 2018. But due to complications with the bridge poles, the work was delayed. The Padma Bridge will be launched next year. Till now, 91 percent work of the bridge has been completed. The river governance has been completed at 75.05 percent and the overall progress of the project is 82.50 percent. This bridge will increase the growth of Bangladesh by 1.23 percent.