Ever since its opening in 2022, the authorities on Thursday collected the highest toll from the 6.5km-long Padma Bridge in 24 hours.
The toll collection reached a record of Tk5,43,28,000 from Wednesday midnight till Thursday night, surpassing Tk4,89,94,700 on June 14 last year and Tk4,60,53,300 on June 23, 2023.
This monumental project connects Dhaka with 21 districts of the southern and southeastern region: Khulna, Bagerhat, Jessore, Satkhira, Narail, Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga, Jhenaidah, Magura under the Khulna Division; Barishal, Pirojpur, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barguna and Jhalakathi under the Barisal Division; and Gopalganj, Faridpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Rajbari under the Dhaka Division.
This double-decker modern structure has four lanes in the upper deck, while the lower deck allows trains to run at 120 km/h on the mighty Padma River.
It is the longest bridge over the river Ganges by both span and total length and is the deepest bridge in the world, with piles installed as deep as 127 metres. Padma Bridge is the first all-welded, 3-layer coating painted super-thick steel, and double-duty steel truss bridge following European standards in Bangladesh.
The bridge was built by Chinese engineers with Bangladesh government funds at an estimated cost of $3.6 billion after international lenders, including the World Bank, moved away from the mega project, raising false allegations of corruption.
Thanks to her visionary and bold steps, Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the road bridge on June 25, 2022, while the rail connectivity was inaugurated on December 24, 2024. Padma Bridge is expected to boost the GDP by as much as 1.23%.
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