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Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Korean firm for the operation and maintenance of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge.
On behalf of their respective organisations, Rezaul Haider, director (admin) of BBA, and Shin Young Suk, managing director of Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) signed the deal at the Setu Bhaban in Dhaka city around 11:30am on Thursday.
Road, transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader, who was present during the MoU signing ceremony, briefed the reporters about the deal and latest progress on the bridge construction.
Under the MoU, a technical team of KEC will visit the site of the bridge and give a proposal detailing all maintenance and operation issues, including required manpower and toll collection, he said.
Once the proposal is talked about and approved by the authorities concerned, a contract will be signed between them, the minister added.
On the progress of the bridge construction, he said it has so far witnessed an overall progress of 73.5 per cent.
Started in December 2015, the construction of the much-awaited bridge is now expected to be completed by 2020 and open to traffic by June 2021.
The 6.15-kilometre bridge is Bangladesh’s largest infrastructure project till date. Once in operation, the bridge is expected to boost the GDP by 1.2 per cent.