Bridges

The Padma Multipurpose Bridge Design Project comprises a new fixed crossing of the Padma River in Bangladesh, which will consist of a new main bridge with river spans of 6.15km long crossing the Padma River. Viaduct spans are located on both sides of the Padma River and connect to the river spans of the main bridge and extend the total length of the bridge up to 7.8km for the road carriageway and 11.47km for the railway. The viaduct spans include bridge structures that support both highway and railway traffic and distribute this traffic to the upper and lower levels of the composite steel truss of the main bridge river spans (Fig. 5). The project site is located in a high seismic area with soil conditions highly susceptible to significant depths of liquefaction. This presented some major challenges in bridge engineering, specifically in the design of the substructure.