Sinohydro Corporation, a Chinese contractor, is working on river management for the Padma Bridge project. In addition to dredging in river governance, sand filled geo textile bags, stones, CC blocks etc. are being dumped. However, the contractor has used unauthorized geo-textile materials in this work. The consulting firm and the bridge authority have objected to the breach of the terms of the agreement.

Meanwhile, the implementation of the river governance part of the Padma Bridge is far behind the target. Therefore, the term of the river management package has been extended for the second time. However, due to Corona, neither the contractor, the consultant nor the bridge authority is sure when the work will be completed.

This information has come up in the latest report of the management consultancy of Padma Bridge. The report was recently submitted to the Bridges Division by Randall Limited, a UK-based joint management consultant, BCL Associates Limited of Bangladesh and Padeco Company Limited of Japan and Katahira and Engineers International.

According to the report, there are various activities in the governance of Padma river under the project. These include river dredging, dumping of 600 kg geo-textile bags filled with sand, dumping of 125 kg of geo-textile bags filled with sand, dumping of large size stones, dumping of CC blocks made of stone etc. However, the contractor Sinohydro Corporation has used unauthorized geo-textile materials in river governance.

Objections were raised as the materials were not used as per the terms of the contract. In this case, the contractor has to prove the compatibility of the geo-textile bag mentioned in the contract and the quality of the new geo-textile material. The Korean Expressway Consortium, a consultancy for the Padma Bridge, has recommended collecting certificates from the United States. If the qualities of the geo-textile material are not adequately found in the U.S. Charter, the contractor will have to do additional compensatory work on river governance.

According to the report, the contractor Sinohydro was instructed last March to test new geo-textile materials used in river governance of the project. The report was due at the end of July. However, reports for Corona are being delayed.

In addition, the consulting firm has warned against the use of unauthorized materials in river governance in the future. In this case, Sinohydro has been instructed to test such materials in advance and get the prior permission of the bridge authority.

Meanwhile, river governance work of Padma bridge project is being delayed due to Corona. Therefore, the term of the river governance package was already extended by one point. However, as the work was not completed in the extended time, the validity of the Padma River Governance Package has been extended by another point.

According to sources, the agreement on the river management package was signed on December 31, 2014. In this case, the work of the package was to be completed within four years. The deadline is December 30, 2016. It was later extended to June this year following a request from the contractor. However, at the end of the extended period, the progress of river governance work is 75.64 percent. In other words, river governance is still about 24 percent behind the target.

In this situation, Sinohydro has been given one more year in the second phase. The new target is to complete the river by June next year. However, due to Corona, no one involved in the project is sure when the work will be completed.

If you want to know the project director. Shafiqul Islam said the construction of the two main packages of the Padma Bridge is being delayed due to insufficient manpower due to coronavirus. In this case, the contractor has given a letter setting a target to complete the work in June next year. However, due to Corona, part of the company's manpower has been stranded in China. So it is difficult to say exactly when the work will be completed.

Note that China's Sinohydro Corporation has an old notoriety for delaying work on the project. Earlier, the company worked as a contractor for six packages of the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project. Of the 10 packages in the project, the work on the other three packages was completed quickly, but the duration of Sinohydro's share had to be extended several times. The cost of the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project increased by three points due to delay in implementation.

Meanwhile, work on the main infrastructure of the Padma Bridge, like river governance, is also being delayed due to corona. The contract was signed with China Major Bridge on November 28, 2014. The construction of the bridge was supposed to be completed on November 25, 2017, i.e. within four years. However, due to delay in implementation, this period was extended by two points and fixed till last June. Howev