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Japan Society of Civil Engineers, represented by the Committee of Steel Structures well supported the activities in Bangladesh since 2005 to develop, nourish and culture the discipline of bridge engineering with a view to understanding this rapidly developing society that in the past has well demonstrated for many times the inherent capabilities to recover quickly from large natural disasters. Scholarly discussions were initiated to identify the areas where technical breakthroughs are very much required for future needs and also to identify the areas that can be focused for transfer of appropriate technology. A consensus was reached on the necessities of exchanging ideas through International Events at a regular interval for well founding the knowledgebase and transferring technologies.
In this line, Advances in Bridge Engineering-I, the first ever conference in Bridge Engineering in Bangladesh was organized in 2005 with 14 contributions, 5 from Japan and the rest from Bangladesh . Steel and composite constructions were given the special theme for that event. In 2010, after a five year interval, the Advances in Bridge Engineering-II was organized in close collaboration with Committee of Steel Structures, JSCE. IABSE, Switzerland was the other key partner. Six keynote addresses supported by 56 technical papers (13 papers from Japan ) from specialists working in 11 countries made the event successful. Bearings, expansion joints, base isolation system and shock transmission units were given the special attention in theme for that event. The 2015 event, at the five year interval was the one. It was with the Centennial Celebration of the Hardinge Bridge . This spirited the idea of giving special attention to strengthening, repair and maintenance of the bridge for owning a resilient infrastructure in the Asian region.
In 2020, the experts from Japan, Europe, Oceania and the neighboring countries are expected to provide in-depth deliberations on bridge forms, architecture, aerodynamic design, vibration and serviceability requirements but giving some attention also to the conference theme. In order to enhance regional cooperation, the conference always aims to generate further discussions on the necessity and format of a unified Bridge Code for the Asian countries. It is important to know each other, the technological know-hows, potentials and also the social needs! The 2020 bridge engineering conference will also host special thematic sessions on outcome-based education in association with the Board of Accreditation for Engineering and Technical Education (BAETE), Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB). This surely emphasizes the necessity of an up-to-date, internationally benchmarked engineering education system in Bangladesh to meet modern needs and expectations. We invite experts in the field worldwide to contribute papers to the conference and participate in its discussions.
