Japan “keen to join” 2nd Padma Bridge construction efforts: Ambassador

[Black_cats]

Published on 01:39 PM, June 22, 2022

Japan “keen to join” 2nd Padma Bridge construction efforts: Ambassador​

Japan “keen to join” 2nd Padma Bridge construction efforts: Ambassador

Japanese Ambassador Ito Naoki has said his country is keen to join Bangladesh government’s ongoing construction efforts of second Padma Bridge while the first one was built due to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s “far-sighted vision and political astuteness”.

www.thedailystar.net

Japanese Ambassador Ito Naoki
BSS, Dhaka

Japanese Ambassador Ito Naoki has said his country is keen to join Bangladesh government's ongoing construction efforts of second Padma Bridge while the first one was built due to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's "far-sighted vision and political astuteness".

"I am sure that once the second Padma Bridge becomes a reality, Japanese government and JICA will be in a position to consider the possibility of participation in the construction efforts by the government," he told a group of selected journalists at his residence on Tuesday (June 21, 2022).

The envoy said right now the Japanese government's position is: "We should seize the opportunity to offer our cooperation (in building the second Padma Bridge) to the government of Bangladesh".

"I am sure that it (Padma Bridge) is going to be very impactful, successful ... so the second Padma Bridge will be a reality," he said.

Japan has so far provided assistance to build 134 small and large bridges all over Bangladesh, he noted.

Terming the Padma Bridge as a national dream and pride which demonstrates what Bangladesh can do for its economic development and stability, the envoy said it would truly fulfill the growth potential of Bangladesh.

The envoy said the year 2022 of Bangladesh would be remembered by the world with so many examples of quality infrastructure including inauguration of Padma Bridge this month and metro rail by end of this year.

Recalling Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Japan in 1996, Naoki said she made a request to the Japanese side for cooperation on two bridges – Padma Bridge and Rupsha Bridge.

The envoy said Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) conducted the preliminary feasibility study for the Padma Bridge and constructed Rupsha Bridge.

The ambassador, however, said it was rather unfortunate that JICA could not be part of financing the Padma Bridge.

He highly appreciated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's courteous decision to build the bridge by own funding and said it clearly demonstrates what Bangladesh is capable of doing on its own.

The envoy said Japan focuses on a number of mega projects in Dhaka, Chattogram and Cox's Bazar in line with the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt (BIG-B) initiative for the construction of an industrial corridor.

 

[bluesky]

Japanese Ambassador Ito Naoki has said his country is keen to join Bangladesh government's ongoing construction efforts of second Padma Bridge while the first one was built due to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's "far-sighted vision and political astuteness".

Strictly speaking, the name should be Meghna Bridge. Because Meghana falls into the Padma a little north of Chandpur and it is called Meghna till it falls into the BoB.

Once @Bilal9 pointed out that the depth at the confluence of Padma and Meghna is 300m. This I checked and found true. As such the new bridge should be built somewhere south of Chandpur.

However, the flow of water is very steep even there, steeper than it is in the present Padma bridge. I will be watching the site selection of this new Padma/ Meghna Bridge. Japan is good in the technological front. But, Japan itself does not have big rivers with steep water flows.

But, China has a similar situation with its rivers. I believe, China will do better in the new bridge with its homeland experience.

 

[Bilal9]

Strictly speaking, the name should be Meghna Bridge. Because Meghana falls into the Padma a little north of Chandpur and it is called Meghna till it falls into the BoB.

Once @Bilal9 pointed out that the depth at the confluence of Padma and Meghna is 300m. This I checked and found true. As such the new bridge should be built somewhere south of Chandpur.

However, the flow of water is very steep even there, steeper than it is in the present Padma bridge. I will be watching the site selection of this new Padma/ Meghna Bridge. Japan is good in the technological front. But, Japan itself does not have big rivers with steep water flows.

But, China has a similar situation with its rivers. I believe, China will do better in the new bridge with its homeland experience.

@bluesky bhai, there is a Korean Bridge being built north of the confluence on the Meghna on Bhulta-Araihazar-Bancharampur Road (R-203) . Will be implemented by a Korean consortium consisting of Daewoo Engineering and Construction Company Ltd., Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company Ltd. and Korea Expressway Corporation.

Apparently this is to help Agartala exports to get to Chittagong.

Bangladesh, Korea set to build bridge on Meghna River

Bangladesh, Korea set to build bridge on Meghna River

www.daily-sun.com

https://bba.portal.gov.bd/site/page/8f5fb65c-e2ba-4a14-b31b-209fa06cee5e

More on topic, JICA is feeling guilty now that they stepped aside from financing Padma Bridge. Japanese envoy backpedaling a bit.

 

[bluesky]

More on topic, JICA is feeling guilty now that they stepped aside from financing Padma Bridge. Japanese envoy backpedaling a bit.

JICA did not participate in the Padma Bridge design and construction probably because of WB refusal to take part in this project. Japan is not any WB rival country, China is.

In my very personal opinion, China was a better candidate than Japan because of the difficulties this bridge faced during construction. China with fast-flowing rivers like Hoangho has more experience than Japan to tame the river banks than Japan without such rivers.

Especially, I was surprised to see the way the Chinese company did strengthening the two banks with thousands of caged stones dumped at the dike bottom. These caged stones cannot be moved by the fast flow of water. Very excellent!!!

I always watch the Japanese system of dike bottom strengthening. It is good for Japanese rivers but may not be good for a BD river. However, I believe, the Japanese engineering companies have studied the Chinese procedures and will follow the same principle while doing construction in BD rivers in the future.

 

[itsanufy]

JICA did not participate in the Padma Bridge design and construction probably because of WB refusal to take part in this project. Japan is not any WB rival country, China is.

In my very personal opinion, China was a better candidate than Japan because of the difficulties this bridge faced during construction. China with fast-flowing rivers has more experience than Japan to tame the river banks than Japan without rivers like Hoangho.

Especially, I was surprised to see the way the Chinese company did strengthening the two banks with thousands of caged stones dumped at the dike bottom. These caged stones cannot be moved by the fast flow of water. Very excellent!!!

I always watch the Japanese system of dike bottom strengthening. It is good for Japanese rivers but may not be good for a BD river. However, I believe, the Japanese engineering companies have studied the Chinese procedures and will follow the same principle while doing construction in BD rivers in the future.

Caged stone technique was first used by the Dutch, most eco friendly way of handling way of erosion.

 

[Destranator]

Wonder whether we can mass deploy the caged stone technique to fight river erosion in general throughout the country?

 

[Bilal9]

Wonder whether we can mass deploy the caged stone technique to fight river erosion in general throughout the country?

No reason why we cannot. So far we could not because of expense. Now we can...

Gabion basket techniques (caged stone) has been used for ages in Europe to protect soil erosion, prevent landslides in slopes and of course guard against river erosion.

 

[bluesky]

No reason why we cannot. So far we could not because of expense. Now we can...

Gabion basket techniques (caged stone) has been used for ages in Europe to protect soil erosion, prevent landslides in slopes and of course guard against river erosion.

I am sorry to say that I was not talking about this kind of caged stone. These pictures are for walls. For Padma dikes, the Chinese company excavated the bank base with the power shovels to a level of say, (natural bank Level - 10m) or below, and placed stones in irregular-shaped cages along a few km of length on the four banks.

Unfortunately, I do not have any videos of this work. I keenly study the Japanese bank protection system and the Chinese system really surprised me. I have learned a lot there.

If four, five, or six layers of heavy stone cages have been laid, there is no way the Padma water flow will ever be able to dislodge them. This is how the dikes are protected.

The stone cages are overlaid with compacted soil and heavy concrete blocks are laid over them. However, I personally do not think one single slope from the dikes as practiced in BD is that good.

Here, in Japan, the slopes are TERRACED, so, the vertical height is never more than 4m.

 

[bluesky]

Wonder whether we can mass deploy the caged stone technique to fight river erosion in general throughout the country?

When I was visiting Faridpur a few years ago, I saw trucks full of big stones. I think a part was broken for use in the cement concrete and the remaining in the stone cages under the dikes.