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Padma Bridge, rail link projects may have faced human errors, says planning minister

| Updated: September 24, 2020 19:35:28


Padma Bridge, rail link projects  may have faced human errors, says planning minister

Planning Minister MA Mannan has said human errors may have triggered problems at Padma Bridge and rail link projects over vertical and horizontal clearances between the approach roads and the elevated rail tract.

It’s better to work towards solving these problems, he suggested, adding that the errors have been identified at a time when consequences may be largely avoided.

However, Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujon said it is necessary to decide first whether what have caused the problems in the projects are really errors and then look for their engineering solution.

Both the ministers came up with such comments while talking with journalists at the Padma Multi Purpose Bridge (PMB) Project site on Thursday after visiting the Mawa point where the problems in the projects have come up.

Project directors of PMB and Padma Rail Link (PRL) projects, project managers and officials of Chinese contractors and consultants were present during the visit.

"We should not cry over small errors, nor can we leave them as they are. Admitting what have happened, let’s sit with experts and engineers to find the way forward," said the planning minister.

He also said cost or time must be assessed, while solving all problems, by projects officials and engineers.

The PRL project director said they have shared their design with BUET while the PMB project earlier requested a panel of experts to find amicable solutions to the problems.

Conflicts between the two projects -- one being implemented by Bangladesh Railway (BR) and another by Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) -- were created when the BBA objected to the gap between the approach roads and the elevated rail track due to not having vertical and horizontal clearances of the piers being constructed by BR.

The BR has done piling work of the piers on both sides of the Mawa site approach roads while piling work at Janjira is ongoing. The rail track over the piers coming from the bottom tier of the two-tier Padma Bridge will go above the approach roads at the two points of Mawa and Janjira side.

BBA said the horizontal and vertical clearances must be 15.5 metre and 5.7 metre respectively. However, PRL project officials claim that there is vertical clearance for 6.7 metre at Mawa in total and it is 5.3 metre at Janjira while there is horizontal clearance for 11.1 metre at Mawa while it is 13.9 metre at Janjira respectively.

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