Korea Expressway Corp. (KEC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) on mutual cooperation for operation and maintenance of Padma Bridge on Sept. 12.
The agreement was carried out after the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport officially recommended the KEC as an operation and maintenance business operator of Padma Bridge to BBA last year.
If the KEC submits a proposal for the project in earnest, it is likely that the contract will be concluded as early as the end of this year.
If the KEC wins the project, it will carry out the comprehensive tasks required for operation and maintenance of Padma Bridge, including collection of fees at sales offices, maintenance of roads, structures, and patrol and disaster management. It is expected to be worth about 100 billion won project over the next 10 years.
Padma Bridge, the Bangladesh's largest special bridge, is a double-decker truss bridge consisting of a four-lane road and a lower-level railway, which began construction in 2014. It is the Bangladesh's largest civil engineering project with a total cost of 3 trillion won.
A Chinese builder is in charge of construction, while the KEC carries out construction supervision services for the construction site.
In particular, BBA, the ordering office, highly evaluated the KEC for its smooth process by overcoming poor conditions such as soft ground conditions with a depth of 110 meters or more and flooding rivers in rainy weather.
"We hope our experience in building and operating highways will help us push forward with the transportation infrastructure project in Bangladesh," said Shin Yong-seok, head of KEC's overseas business division. "We will continue to help domestic companies expand overseas and actively support the government's policy to promote overseas construction."
