The 75-year-old bridge on the Krishna near Shakti Nagar, about 22 km from here, which was taken up for renovation and strengthening on June 24 this year, would continue to remain closed for another fortnight as work is yet to be completed.
As a result, movement of big vehicles on the 132-km stretch between Raichur in Karnataka and Jadcherla in Telangana on National Highway 167, a major inter-State highway that connects Hyderabad with several major cities in North Karnataka, including Raichur, would stand suspended and such vehicles would have to continue run on either the Gadwal-Pebbair-Kothakota-Boothpur Chowrastha-Jadcherla route or the Nandini-Jurala Reservoir-Atmakur-Mahbubnagar route.
In either case, they have to cover about 29 km extra to reach their destination.
Alternative
For those who travel between Raichur and Kalaburagi, going via Deodurg would be a better choice.
As per the information provided by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the work was almost complete.
“We have finished re-pointing and grouting of the 35 pillars, jacketing 10 pillars and coating the entire bridge with 7.5 cm cement concrete. Now, we need time for concrete curing.
“Upon our request, Raichur Deputy Commissioner S. Sasikanth Senthil has extended the closure period till August 20,” K.P. Mahadevaiah, Assistant Executive Engineer, Hospete Division, NHAI, told The Hindu .
Rebuild Structures has bagged the Rs. 4.87-crore project, he added.
New bridge
NHAI, as part of its plans to strengthen and widen National Highway 167, has planned to abandon this old bridge and build a new one at a cost of Rs. 145 crore, excluding the development of approach areas on either end of the bridge that requires acquisition of additional land.
The new four-lane bridge would be 14 metre wide and 760 metre long.
