Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the Bailey bridge across the Kallada river, linking Pathanamthitta and Kollam districts, on Monday evening.
The inaugural function was held at Kulakkada on the southern bank in Kollam district in the presence of a huge crowd on both banks.
The Chief Minister lauded the efforts taken by the engineering wing of the Indian Army and the Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP) for the speedy completion of the steel bridge in the wake of the closure of the 18-year old concrete bridge following detection of damage in its piers four months ago.
Mr. Vijayan said the repair work on the damaged piers of the concrete bridge was progressing well.
He said experts had opined that indiscriminate sand-mining from the vicinity of the bridge piers was what led to the sinking of the piers.
G. Sudhakaran, Public Works Minister, who presided, said the expert team had found the second pier from the Kottarakkara side slighty shifted and the well foundation of the third pier eroded at the bottom.
The KSTP had initially blocked heavy vehicles, permitting only light motor vehicles and two-wheelers on it, from January 10 evening. However, the findings of an expert team led by Aravind, retired engineering expert from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, had recommended the KSTP authorities to prohibit all vehicular traffic on the bridge.
The bridge was closed from January 13 on the basis of a thorough analysis of the video of the bridge piers taken by diving experts, Mr. Sudhakaran said.
The Army Engineering Group from Chennai completed the 58-metre long, three-metre wide Bailey bridge on March 6.
Only light motor vehicle would be permitted, and that too in a single-line system at a time, on the steel bridge weighing 18 tonne, the Minister said.
Kodikkunnil Suresh and Anto Antony, MPs; Chittayam Gopakumar and Aysha Potti, MLAs, and P.K. Satheesan, KSTP chief engineer, spoke.
