The main girders of the Padma Bridge in Bangladesh constructed by CREC were connected on December 10. With construction started in 2014, the 7.7-km-long bridge is the first all-weld, super-thick-steel, double-duty steel truss bridge following European standards in Bangladesh.

The entire steel structure was built by China Railway Shanhaiguan Bridge Group Co., Ltd. under China Railway Hi-Tech Industry Co., Ltd. Made up by 41 steel trusses each measuring 150 meters in length and 3,200 tons in weight, the entire structure weighs 125,800 tons in total. China Railway Jiujiang Bridge Engineering Co., Ltd. built 140,000 tons of test piles and steel tube piles and 18,000 tons of cable piles for the project. “Heaven No.1,” an integrated girder carrier with an elevating capacity of 3,600 tons independently developed by China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co., Ltd. placed the girds in place.

After completed, the bridge will mark an end of a history when residents in 21 regions in southern Bangladesh rely on ferry service to the capital Dhaka. It will also become an important transportation hub along the Belt and Road route. (By Xing Ying, Liu Fanglin, Xia Beichen and Qian Banglei)