The new additional two-lane bridge being built across the Koraiyar on the city stretch of Tiruchi-Dindigul Highway will be completed by April, the Highways department has said.
Although the foundation was laid in March 2016, construction began on a sluggish note after preliminary works were carried out at the site.
District Collector K. Rajamani, who inspected the bridge along with R. Krishnaswamy, Divisional Engineer, Highways, said 95% of the structural work had been completed and the remaining works and laying of approach roads would be finished by April end.
The bridge would be opened for traffic by May, Mr. Krishnaswamy added.
The bridge was sanctioned after the city stretch of the highway was widened between Ponnagar and Kallikudi.
The construction of the bridge had become essential as a large number of residential colonies and educational institutions had come up along the highway in recent years leading to a sharp increase in vehicular traffic.The existing two-lane bridge across the river was too narrow to accommodate the increasing traffic.
The new bridge with a carriage of 7.50 metre in width would cater to traffic on one direction and the existing bridge would be retained for traffic on the other. The bridge with eight spans would have footpaths of 1.50 metre width on either sides. The bridge runs a length of 105.64 metre and is expected to ease traffic flow near Dheeran Nagar.
Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa had laid the foundation and the bridge was sanctioned at a cost of ₹4.90 crore under the Comprehensive Road Infrastructure Development Programme (CRIDP). Subsequently, the technical sanction was given for ₹5.39 crore. This was one of the 129 works to be taken up under the CRIDP during 2015-16.
Cauvery bridge
Mr. Krishnaswamy also disclosed that the reconstruction of the parapet along the Cauvery in the city would be completed by the end of May.
The construction of the solid brick wall in 2015-16 instead of the perforated concrete structure (with gaps) had raised a furore. The new parapet would be a perforated structure.
Public hearing
Answering a query, Mr. Rajamani disclosed that a fresh public hearing would be held soon to elicit public views on the revised plan for the by-pass road stretch between Panchapur on Tiruchi-Madurai Highway and Jeeyapuram on the Tiruchi-Karur highway, which was halted midway after a court directive based on a petition from farmers opposing the construction of the bridge across irrigation tanks.
The National Highways Authority of India would be able to resume the by-pass road work possibly by May-June once the report on the public hearing was filed and necessary clearances from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest were obtained.
