A Rajshahi court on Tuesday sentenced man to five-year imprisonment in a case over spreading rumour about using human head to construct Padma Bridge in 2011 through Facebook. Rajshahi divisional Cyber Crime Tribunal Judge Ziaur Rahman pronounced the judgment. The convict is Razib Hossain,30, son of Abdur Razzaq of Durgapur upazila in Rajshahi. In October, 2011,  Razib posted a status from his Facebook profile that said, ”The Padma Bridge construction in Bangladesh has been obstructed as it will need more than 1 lakh human heads. As per the directive of the Prime Minister, 41 teams are out on the streets, playgrounds, markets with sharp weapons and gas spray to collect those heads,” said Public Prosecutor Ismat Ara. Also read: Woman gets 5-yr jail term for possessing drugs in Chattogram Woman gets 5-yr jail term for possessing drugs in Chattogram He also said the main target of these teams are women and children and they are doing this heinous crime even entering people’s houses so he posted it to create awareness, she said. Razib was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment under section 25(2) of the Digital Security Act, 2018, with fine of Tk two lakh. In case of failure to pay the fine, he will have to serve another six months’ imprisonment. Also read: Attack on Ghoraghat UNO: One gets 13 years jail Under section 31(2) of the same act, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment with Tk 3 lakh in fine. In case of failure to pay the fine  he will have to serve six months more imprisonment. 

Bangladesh undertook the Padma Bridge construction project a decade ago with the dream of connecting the people of Southern Bangladesh with the capital Dhaka to speed up the economy. And the dream comes true as the bridge on mighty river Padma was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on June 25, 2022, expecting to fulfill the dreams of many people in Bangladesh. However, building such a big bridge with self-finance was not easy. But Bangladesh has surprised the whole world. With the inauguration of the Padma multipurpose bridge, one-third of Bangladesh has become connected to Dhaka by road. From the length of the Bridge to the number of pillars, many facts make the bridge comparable to a wonder. Let’s get to know some facts about Padma Bridge. Amazing Facts About Padma Bridge Build On a Continuous Stream of Water According to statistics, 1.40 lakh cubic meters of water can go to the sea every second through the Padma. The amount of water that flows into the sea through the Padma is the second highest in the world after the Amazon River. This continuous stream of water will pass under the Padma Bridge. So the system should be kept in such a way that the water can flow under the bridge without any interruption and go to the Bay of Bengal. Read: Padma Bridge to transform Bagerhat’s tourism industry If the water gets trapped in any way, it will flood upstream (west-north side of the river), and at the same time, this water will put a lot of pressure on the bridge. As a result, bridge failure can occur. Padma Bridge has been built keeping these things in mind. Long Piles The height of Padma bridge piles is 120-128 meters. That is, each pile is equal to a 40-story building. This is because, during the monsoon, when there is excess flow, the Padma River may scour 65 meters of soil, that means 65 meters of soil is washed away from the bottom of the river. No river in the world has the capacity to wash away so much soil. Hence, the piles of the Padma Bridge are so large to resist the sediment transport of the Padma during monsoons. In the history of bridge construction, the foundation of a bridge has never been built at such a depth anywhere in the world. Read Padma Bridge symbol of new Bangladesh: FM tells his Portuguese counterpart Germany Made Special Crane and Hammer Installing 120-128-meter-high piles is not a piece of cake. In the world, there is no such high pile placement machine. So special cranes and hammers were made from Germany only for the Padma Bridge. Can Survive Heavy Earthquake Another record of Padma Bridge is its ability to withstand earthquakes. The Padma Bridge can withstand an earthquake of 9 on the Richter scale without any complications. Heavy Bearing Each bearing between the span and pier of Padma Bridge has a weight of about 10,500 metric tons. No other bridge in the world has ever used such heavy bearings. The technology used here is base isolation, in which the foundation will move during an earthquake, but the bridge above will not move.  Read Shariatpur poultry farmers' dreams now stretch beyond Padma Bridge There will be a system of movement. This is called a pendulum bearing, which will help to slide the span and help to back again in place. It is used in many places in the world. However, it has never been used in such a large project. Due to this technology, the number of piles and size of pile caps is reduced to some extent. Vertical Bored Concrete Pile The piles below the two piers are slightly different, which are vertical bored concrete piles that are up to 80 meters deep. It means that these piles are not inclined but straight underwater. These are concrete piles, like the common columns of our houses. These piles are cast into the water, which means pouring concrete into the water. But the concrete does not float and becomes a column. River Training Another very important function of the Padma Bridge was river training, which was very challenging. There are very few companies in the world that can do this job. Sinohydro, the Chinese state-owned company, got this tender in July 2014.  Read Padma Bridge: Tk 4.19 crore toll collection breaks 24-hr record Alongside Padma bridge construction, the River dredging was started. Dredging is the removal of silt from the bottom so that there is less obstruction in the flow of water. So that more amount (higher volume of water) can go. It was expected that the pressure of water on the edge would be reduced a little. Dredging 10 million cubic meters at Mawa end. And 40 million cubic meters of dredging at the Jazira end. Another part of river training was placing stones, concrete blocks, and geo bags on the banks of the river. 8.5 lakh tons of stone were used at the Mawa end, and 30 lakh tons of stone were thrown at the Jazira end. 3,907,500 geo bags weighing 800 kg and 17,267,500 geo bags weighing 125 kg were dropped. A total of cement concrete blocks was 13,301,248. Due to the Padma Bridge, a 14 km area has come under river training. It is rare to find such a large area taken control for river training. Read Padma Bridge a symbol of pride for developing world: Hun Sen Exclusive Engineering Technologies Applied in Padma Bridge Rail Line The train will pass through the steel structure. The rail line is dual gauge. Therefore, the broad gauge and meter gauge, both types of trains, can cross the Padma Bridge. There will be emergency arrangements so that people can be alighted from the train and taken to a safe place in case of any kind of trouble on the train. Again, this is not an ordinary railway line. It has provision for double-decker containers to carry goods. Railways in Bangladesh usually take one container. But it is being done here so that in future trains can go with one container on top of another. It is the first ballastless rail track and is made with RCC instead of stone. The rail track is placed on a truss structure (the V-shaped steel structure). Read Parjatan's Padma Bridge package tour launched Final Words Padma Bridge is a symbol of political status, self-reliance, courage, determination, ability, and confidence. The construction of this Padma bridge is an ‘engineering wonder' in front of the whole world, an example of overcoming engineering challenges. 

The government is counting a monthly loss of Tk 130 crore due to delay in laying a high-priority transmission line that would take electricity from the Payra power plant to Dhaka across the River Padma. According to official sources, the amount is being paid as “capacity payment” to 1320 MW Payra power plant, a Bangladesh-China joint venture project, which is now ready to supply electricity to the national grid for distribution in Dhaka adjoining areas. In this case the capacity payment means the government’s commitment to purchase power generated at the plant at an agreed-upon rate. The government still has to pay the plant for its generation (capacity) even if it is unable to buy the electricity from it. The government is not ready to purchase electricity from the plant as it has failed to complete work on the 164.6 km 400 kV double-circuit transmission line that would supply power from Mongla to Dhaka’s Aminbazar via Maowa connected by the national grid. The project has hit some hurdles in crossing the mighty river, where a multipurpose bridge is being built to connect Dhaka with the country’s south-western region. The official document of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), the implementing agency, shows the project was scheduled to be implemented by December 2020. After repeated extensions, the schedule has now been set for December 2021.  Also read: Finally, Payra power plant ready to operate at full blast Officials, however, apprehend the project might not be completed even by the latest deadline due to a major constraint in the work on crossing Padma River. Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, acknowledged the loss government is incurring and the hurdles the project is facing. “We are trying to resolve the issue,” he told UNB adding “We have nothing else to do but to  wait.” Power Division officials blamed the excessive delay on Padma Bridge construction authority which was tasked to lay foundations for the construction of towers within the river area. Read Also: Payra power plant starts commercial operation of its first unit