A tale of two bridges: Padma Bridge construction costs highest in the world

[Banglar Bir]

A tale of two bridges: Padma Bridge construction costs highest in the world
Farah Masum, June 15, 2017

With the amount being spent on the construction of Padma Bridge in Bangladesh, India could have made 19 bridges, each the size of their biggest one, the Bhupen Hazarika Bridge. India’s newly inaugurated Bhupen Hazarika Bridge is about 1.15 km longer than the 6.15 km Padma Bridge. In width, Padma Bridge is 81.1 meters and Bhupen Hazarika Bridge 12.1 meters. Padma Bridge’s construction costs have exceeded the global average of bridge construction, creating a new record.

The Padma Bridge construction costs total US$ 3 billion. India’s Bhupen Hazarika Bridge’s construction costs are US$ 155 million.

Padma Bridge is located in Mawa, Munshiganj and Jajira, Shariatpur of Bangladesh. Bhupen Hazarika Bridge is between Assam and Arunachal’s Dhula Sadia in India. It spans the river Luhit, a tributary of Brahmaputra. Construction on the bridge began in November 2011 and was inaugurated on 26 May 2017. Work on Padma Bridge began in 2014 and is expected to be complete by December 2018.

Over Tk 12,000 crore (Tk 120 billion) is being spent on the basic structure of Padma Bridge. Another Tk 8,750 crore (Tk 87.5 billion) is being spent on river training. Construction of two link roads cost Tk 1300 crore (Tk 13 billion). The estimated cost of rehabilitating the displaced persons is Tk 500 crore (Tk 5 billion).

Padma and Brahmaputra are considered two of the rivers with the strongest currents in the world. Padma Bridge has the normal capacity to bear vehicles, while the Bhupen Hazarika Bridge has been constructed to carry heavy vehicles. In the advent of war with China over the controversial Arunachal territory, heavy tanks and lorries will be able to cross this bridge.

Bhupen Hazarika Bridge has been constructed by the Indian Navayuga Engineering Company, while Padma Bridge is being constructed by China’s Motor Bridge Engineering Company Limited. Only motor vehicles will travel over Bhupen Hazarika Bridge. Padma Bridge has a separate lane for single track train to run.

In Bangladesh, government construction work costs are inevitably excessive. It has the highest road construction costs in Asia. It is the same with its bridge construction costs too.

http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/0...adma-bridge-construction-costs-highest-world/

 

[Major Sam]

A tale of two bridges: Padma Bridge construction costs highest in the world
Farah Masum, June 15, 2017

With the amount being spent on the construction of Padma Bridge in Bangladesh, India could have made 19 bridges, each the size of their biggest one, the Bhupen Hazarika Bridge. India’s newly inaugurated Bhupen Hazarika Bridge is about 1.15 km longer than the 6.15 km Padma Bridge. In width, Padma Bridge is 81.1 meters and Bhupen Hazarika Bridge 12.1 meters. Padma Bridge’s construction costs have exceeded the global average of bridge construction, creating a new record.

The Padma Bridge construction costs total US$ 3 billion. India’s Bhupen Hazarika Bridge’s construction costs are US$ 155 million.

Padma Bridge is located in Mawa, Munshiganj and Jajira, Shariatpur of Bangladesh. Bhupen Hazarika Bridge is between Assam and Arunachal’s Dhula Sadia in India. It spans the river Luhit, a tributary of Brahmaputra. Construction on the bridge began in November 2011 and was inaugurated on 26 May 2017. Work on Padma Bridge began in 2014 and is expected to be complete by December 2018.

Over Tk 12,000 crore (Tk 120 billion) is being spent on the basic structure of Padma Bridge. Another Tk 8,750 crore (Tk 87.5 billion) is being spent on river training. Construction of two link roads cost Tk 1300 crore (Tk 13 billion). The estimated cost of rehabilitating the displaced persons is Tk 500 crore (Tk 5 billion).

Padma and Brahmaputra are considered two of the rivers with the strongest currents in the world. Padma Bridge has the normal capacity to bear vehicles, while the Bhupen Hazarika Bridge has been constructed to carry heavy vehicles. In the advent of war with China over the controversial Arunachal territory, heavy tanks and lorries will be able to cross this bridge.

Bhupen Hazarika Bridge has been constructed by the Indian Navayuga Engineering Company, while Padma Bridge is being constructed by China’s Motor Bridge Engineering Company Limited. Only motor vehicles will travel over Bhupen Hazarika Bridge. Padma Bridge has a separate lane for single track train to run.

In Bangladesh, government construction work costs are inevitably excessive. It has the highest road construction costs in Asia. It is the same with its bridge construction costs too.

http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/0...adma-bridge-construction-costs-highest-world/

Well i have found it really weird every highway cost in Bangladesh is way too high than its neighbors. On other day i was shock to see the dhaka express cost for 4 lane road i think for 20km was in excess of 1.5B dollar. damn. we can build 6 lane 250Km motorway, 27KM Metro train in this cost.

 

[bluesky]

I do not think that the cost of any one bridge construction project can be compared directly with others unless both have similar features and soil, and the piles and piers have the same features, say, the same diameter and length (depth) were used.

The water flow in the Padma is about 100 km/hour (2.7 m/sec) during rainy season. So, the piling system is built to withstand this strong current. The pile dia. has been kept 2.5 m and the depth of piling is about 100 m from the river bed. To compare, we need data from the Bhupen Bridge. But, we just do not have them. So, we cannot compare.

People should understand that the bridge piles must withstand vertical as well as the heavy lateral force due to water current. So, a stronger pile system is needed. The cost of construction increased in Padma because a huge quantity of concrete was poured to fill the 2.5 m dia pile casing. My question is what is the pile dia. in the Bhupen?

Why so large pile in Padma? If the pile casing dia. is lowered to, say, 1.5 m instead of the design dia. of 2.5 m, it could have decreased the cost. But, it would have resulted in the vibration of the pile/pier system during rainy season due to fast current. Will you accept a bridge that vibrates when you pass over it? Certainly, no.

There are hundred other factors that were considered during the computerized design procedure or stress analysis, and finally, the Padma bridge is being constructed based on those design analysis. However, I have heard the piles in Padma are driven straight vertical instead of battered ones as in Jamuna. Batter pile means a pile driven at "an angle with the vertical" to resist a lateral force.

Please note that battered piles are not used in Padma, but were used in the Jamuna bridge: 6 vertical to 1 horizontal. In Jamuna, the velocity of water is about 144 km/hr, though.

 

[Ideas_R_Bulletproof]

comparing a bridge that has the biggest foundation pillar ever constructed in the history of man with something that has thousands of examples throughout the globe...... this is like comparing Agartala with Chakir-tala..... or comparing Ayub Khan with Khili Pan....

damn!!.... kono kothai hoy na....

 

[Banglar Bir]

Bangladesh infrastructure is world’s costliest, says World Bank
SAM Staff, June 21, 2017

World Bank economist Zahid Hussain speaks at a press conference in office in Dhaka’s Agargaon on Tuesday. Seated next to him is Qimiao Fan, World Bank’s country director in Bangladesh
Building infrastructure in Bangladesh is costliest in the world, the World Bank said in a briefing on the national budget.

The global lender made the statement as it presented a comparison of infrastructure spending from other countries.

“Bangladesh’s spending for each kilometre of track is higher than in China and India,” said Zahid Hussain, the World Bank’s lead economist for its Dhaka office.

He said the absence of competition in the bidding process for these works amount to corruption.

“The cost becomes higher when there isn’t competition in the tender process. This is part of corruption. Acquiring high and low lands also increases cost,” said Hussain.

The World Bank has long been funding Bangladesh’s infrastructure.

But making allegations of graft, it had pulled out of a loan deal for building Bangladesh’s longest bridge on Padma River in 2012.

The project continued after Bangladesh initiated a plan to fund the bridge itself. A number of other structures are also under construction.

Bangladesh spent $6.6 million on each kilometre as it expanded the Rangpur-Hatikumrul highway to four lanes, said Hussain.

A chart showed that each kilometre of expansion work on the Dhaka-Sylhet highway cost $7 million. For Dhaka-Mawa, it was $11.9 million per kilometre and $2.5 million for the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. The expansion work of Dhaka-Mymensingh highway cost $2.5 million per kilometre.

But in India, constructing one kilometre of a four-lane road cost $1.1 million to $1.3 million, including land acquisition, he said. In China, the figure was $1.3 million to $1.6 million.

For Europe, the cost for each kilometre of four-lane road was $3.5 million, while the conversion of a two-lane road to four was $2.5 million.

“The figures are a bit old, from 2013. But the picture is still the same,” Hussain said.
http://southasianmonitor.com/2017/06/21/bangladesh-infrastructure-worlds-costliest-says-world-bank/
SOURCE BDNEWS24.COM

 

[Eminent Mainstream Media]

Good Business for Chinese Banks and Money lenders- and Even better business for Chinese steel, cement and construction companies-

Well i have found it really weird every highway cost in Bangladesh is way too high than its neighbors. On other day i was shock to see the dhaka express cost for 4 lane road i think for 20km was in excess of 1.5B dollar. damn. we can build 6 lane 250Km motorway, 27KM Metro train in this cost.

No steel and cement production could be a reason- They could ask cheap cement from Pakistan and steel from India- But the Bengali ego is too much- they will buy Cement and Steel from abroad- even If they have to pay 20 times the amount-

 

[Arthur]

No steel and cement production could be a reason- They could ask cheap cement from Pakistan and steel from India- But the Bengali ego is too much- they will buy Cement and Steel from abroad- even If they have to pay 20 times the amount-

wuuut??
Go do some research before breaking your keyboard & look like a fool.

@Bilal9 @Doyalbaba @Philia @BDforever look at this one!!

 

[Eminent Mainstream Media]

wuuut??
Go do some research before breaking your keyboard & look like a fool.

@Bilal9 @Doyalbaba @Philia @BDforever look at this one!!

How competitive is whatever you have of steel and cement production units in Bangladesh ? Are there any coal, iron ore mines in Bangladesh too feed these production units or you buy them from abroad ? What about Lime for cement production ?

 

[bdslph]

some sweets must go to the pockets am i not right
big project you have many ppl
and its once in a life tiime
so you like the sweets to be bigger
now if a government wants quick and honest work a lot would have been done already
new reason are not needed look at the road so expensive damn so sad i can asure you less then a year this road will have major problem

 

[neem456]

Interestingly when china builds bridges or anything in china its amazingly cheap. but same built in any other country its cost is astronomical.

BBangladesh hope not face the same fate srilanka has faced.

 

[Nilgiri]

Interestingly when china builds bridges or anything in china its amazingly cheap. but same built in any other country its cost is astronomical.

BBangladesh hope not face the same fate srilanka has faced.

Well China can take advantage of internal economies of scale within her borders.

That is something that cannot be easily exported to other countries, especially logistically compromised and fractious countries like BD.

Besides it makes sense for China to route its own overcapacity of raw and processed materials and admin labour etc... as much as possible (past any potentially cheaper alternatives) when its giving the loan in the first place....that all runs up the end realised cost....but hey no one else really in that niche LDC, near-LDC market (because no one else really has that level of liquidity mixed with overcapacity to push past CRA analysis).

 

[Saiful Islam]

Abort all projects with those cowboys and bring the Chinese who can get the job done good & proper.

 

[TopCat]

Indian 2 lane bridge over river shoal.

Bangladeshi bridge 4 lane double decker, road/rail bridge on top of the deepest river in the world.

Only a retard will compare this two.

 

[Michael Corleone]

When you give contracts to chor batper to provide labours materials.... what else do you expect.

 

[bluesky]

I have heard the piles in Padma are driven straight vertical instead of battered ones as in Jamuna. Batter pile means a pile driven at "an angle with the vertical" to resist a lateral force.

Please note that battered piles are not used in Padma, but were used in the Jamuna bridge: 6 vertical to 1 horizontal. In Jamuna, the velocity of water is about 144 km/hr, though.

Now I know that battered (inclined) piles are being driven under each of the Piers. Some are straight but some are inclined.

The inclined ones are meant for resisting the strong force due to the high river current during the rainy season. A 10.0 kph 2.7 m/sec) current is quite strong. Without adequate inclined piles, the current will cause vibration of the bridge. It is a great job done by a Chinese company!!
@GeraltofRivia