Thank you for your sweet complements, but, BD highway/bridge engineers are not in control over a big project financed by lending agencies or by individual countries, nor do they have the urge to have control or to learn. Because their jobs are secured with good salaries.
However, if the country wants to develop its own civil design and construction technology of such a gigantic project as Padma Bridge, the relevant ministry should use ITS OWN MONEY to employ one, two or three big local companies (not owned by minister's brother-in-laws) to look after the country's present and future interest. By contract with the lenders
1) Engineers from these companies would be allowed to attend all the technical meetings.
2) Will receives all the technical reports, drawings, schedules prepared by the foreign design companies.
3) Will check and revise the drawings as may be needed.
4) Ask the designer to submit the relevant references to technical points from a previous job or a Standard like ACI, ANSI and AASHO (American Association for State Highway Officials).
There are hundreds of points that I cannot explain here. But, why do we really need such local contractors both during design and construction stages? One may ask why to pay them money when the local engineers may not know about the technical aspects?
Answer is, with their direct involvement in such a project engineers of these local companies will learn how to evaluate soil testing reports, establish soil parameters, design and construct temporary facilities and main structures. In any future project (much smaller in scale comparing to Padma), funded by local money, one of these companies, for example, may be asked to do site survey, establish soil bearing capacity, select abutment and pier locations and do the design works. Another company may be asked to do the construction works.
This is how some of these companies in the long run may be able to build long bridges or heavy civil constructions like undergroud tunnels, ports and harbours. When we reach this stage BD will not have to depend upon foreign money to do big projects. We are not independent because we are technologically behind the western countries. We must not expect a technolology transfer from a group of countries to BD, whereby our engineers have not yet built up their knowledge muscle.
Here I have proposed how to make a technology transfer possible. So, call me when you become a minister in the next govt. I will go and will try to help you out. Note that nothing positive will happen unless there is a change in govt policy, how the govt wants to get technology from the foreigners who know better than us.
Guys, sorry for the unnecessarily long post and forgive me for pretending something which I am really not.
, greed and looting made us dependent on foreigners both for technology and finance.
