Composition | Jamuna Bridge

Bangladesh has many rivers all over the country. One of them is the Jamuna, which is important for Bangladesh's development. It used to be called the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge, but in 1997, the government decided to rename it as Bangabandhu Bridge.

The Jamuna river divides Bangladesh into two parts: East Bengal and South Bengal. It was a big obstacle for transportation and communication. The river made it difficult to develop a good transport system across the country. People had been demanding a bridge over the Jamuna for a long time, and the need for the Bangabandhu Bridge became national.

Steps were taken at different times to build this bridge. The first demand was made in 1963. In July 1996, a bill was passed for its construction. Foreign experts surveyed the area in 1976 and 1982. In 1985, an executive body was formed to build the bridge. The construction began in October 1994 with the help of the A.D.B., World Bank, and Japanese government. It was completed in June 1998.

The bridge is 4.8 kilometers long and the main bridge is 18.5 meters wide. It has 49 spans and a total of 121 pillars. The average length of each pillar is 48 meters. The roads on the east and west banks of the bridge are about 16.92 and 16.94 kilometers long, respectively.

The bridge cost a lot of money. The total cost was 962 million U.S. dollars, with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and Japan contributing 200 million dollars each. Bangladesh paid 362 million U.S. dollars.

The bridge was inaugurated on June 3, 1998, by Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

The Bangabandhu Bridge is a great achievement for Bangladesh. We hope it will contribute to the rapid economic development of the country.