DHAKA, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- First Made in China span for Bangladesh's largest Padma bridge has reached the project site.
The 150-meter span weighing some 2900 tones was made of steel plate with 20-80mm thickness in a Chinese factory.
Obaidul Quader, Bangladesh's road transport and bridges minister, said all the 41 spans for the bridge will gradually arrive from China.
Regarding the bridge's construction progresses, Quader said 37 percent of the works have been done.
The first span will be put on the bridge pillars by the end of the year, he said.
His ministry said in a statement Monday night that from now on one or two spans will arrive from China every month.
In December last year, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the main works of the country's largest Padma Bridge project by unveiling its foundation plaque.
She had also unveiled the plaque of the river training works, the second most costly component of the 3-billion-U.S. dollar project conducted by one of the largest international companies, Sinohydro Corporation Limited.
Experts say the bridge, when it comes into operation in 2018, will ease pressure on the country's premier seaport in Chittagong, 242 km southeast of capital Dhaka, as it will bolster the second largest Mongla seaport in Bagerhat district, 178 km southwest of the capital city.
In June 2014, the Bangladeshi government awarded China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited a 1.55-billion-U.S. dollar contract to build core structure of the Padma Bridge project which is to be completed in four years.
The 25-meter-wide and 10-km-long bridge will be built over Padma River, one of the three major rivers in Bangladesh.
About 6.15 km of the bridge is being built over the river while the remaining part on both banks.
Apart from connecting nearly 30 million people in Bangladesh's southwest region to the rest of the country, the bridge will enhance regional trade and collaboration along the Asian highway No. 1 and the Trans-Asian railway network.
