Padma bridge all but ready for rideToll fixing shortly after Eid, opening in June

Toll rates for the much-cherished Padma multipurpose bridge (PMB) are likely to be final shortly after Eid vacation as the project office plans to inaugurate the engineering icon in June, sources say.

The tolls are proposed 1.5-percent higher than the existing ferry rates against all vehicles by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA).

The rates were approved Thursday in principle by Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.

But sources said gazette on the toll rates will be issued after Prime Minister's nod which is expected after the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation.

They said a summary on the tolls was sent to the Prime Minister's Office soon after the minister's signing on the chart Thursday.

According to the proposed rates, Tk 2400 has been fixed for bus, Tk 1600 for five-tonne truck, Tk 2100 for trucks above 5 to 8 tonnes, Tk 2800 for trucks of above 8 tonnes to 11 tonnes.

Trucks having three axles will have to pay Tk 5500 for a trip, trailer having four axles Tk 6000 but trailer more than four axles will pay Tk 1500 extra for each axle from the rate of Tk 6000.

Private car and jeep will have to pay Tk 750.

Official sources say the proposed toll rates for using the country's longest and expensive bridge have been fixed following proper procedures during the last two years, including approval from the BBA board consisting of the secretaries of different ministries.

"But the final rates would come from the Prime Minister who might revise up or down the proposed tolls," says an official, preferring not to be named.

BBA has been executing the country's megaproject to build direct road-cum-rail link between southwestern districts and the rest of the country since the present government came to power in 2009. The road-rail bridge will connect two parts of the country through Louhajang and Munshiganj to Shariatpur and Madaripur.

The PMB project, which had faced various challenges since then, now comes almost to its end and the authorities hope to inaugurate the road part of the 6.15- kilometre bridge any day after June 15.

The project office has already requested the government to fix the inauguration day after June 15 as a bridging time would be needed for the last-minute brush-up.

Meanwhile, the BBA started work on fixing the toll policy by forming a committee after the bridge's total length was visible in December 2020. Though the committee was guided to propose the toll rates based on existing ferry rates for vehicles, it proposed finally 1.5-percent higher than the ferry rates. But the toll policy was halted by the BBA board due to the coronavirus pandemic, considering its impact on people till end of 2021.

However, the toll rates of the Padma bridge are higher than the second-longest bridge over another mighty river, the Jamuna, constructed by the BBA in 1998.

Though its length and construction materials are different from the Jamuna Bangabandhu Bridge, sources say higher toll rates for the PMB were proposed to pay back the entire Tk 301.93-billion project cost to government exchequer in next 35 years.

BBA sources said the loan repayment will start one year after the Padma bridge inauguration and the authority will have to pay Tk 6.0 billion in the first year to the Finance Division. The amount will pick up to the limit of Tk 14 billion per annum.

"As toll is the source of income for repaying the loan from government, its higher rates are important to make the payment on and in time," said one of them.

The PMB was planned to be constructed at Tk 101.69 billion initially, but it turned out to be a costly bridge over time with the project cost escalating to Tk 301.93 billion in last 15 years. The entire cost is managed from the national budget.

Meanwhile, the BBA has completed negotiation with joint-venture Korean and Chinese firms to operate and maintain the bridge, including collection of toll. BBA earns on average Tk 20 million from the Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge as over 20,000 vehicles use the 4.8-km concrete bridge daily.

The Padma Bridge Project was first approved by Ecnec in 2007 with an estimated cost of Tk 101.61 billion. Later, the length of the bridge was lengthened due to change in design for which the estimated cost hiked to Tk 205.07 billion and approved by Ecnec in 2011. The cost finally scaled up to Tk 301.93 billion in 2018.