Safety has been ensured to road users particularly bus operators and tractor drivers on the Lalgudi - Perambalur segment following construction of a minor bridge near Kumulur. It was thrown open to traffic recently.
The British-built narrow bridge built across the Piralai Vaikkal was too narrow and inadequate to handle the rising traffic volume. Although the structure of bridge was quite safe, it was too narrow and bus drivers often found it difficult to negotiate a curve.
So, the Highways Department took up a special work on widening the Lalgudi-Perambalur highway at this segment for smooth and safe operation of heavy vehicles and trucks.
The work involved widening of the road simultaneously. The new bridge is 24 metres long and 10 metres wide. Two spans, each 9.40 metre in length, have been constructed.
As a large number of heavy vehicles use this stretch, the road is being widened from the original 3.75 metres to seven metres. The work is expected to be completed within six months.
The bridge had been designed in such a way that two heavy vehicles can cross it without any hitch. “The narrow culvert, with a curve on both sides, was an accident-prone zone,” said officials.
The old British-built structures was so strong that it posed a challenge for the authorities to demolish it. “Even the steel rods are so heavy that we had to press into service earth movers to shift them from the culvert site to a nearby place,” the source said.
Villagers feel that the widening of the narrow bridge has come as a boon not only to the heavy vehicle drivers but also to the local villagers.
