The second bridge across the Phalguni (Gurupura) on Airport Road here, part of a four-lane road till the international airport entrance, has reached the final stages of construction with girders being placed on pillars and deck concreting being taken up.
Being executed by the Public Works Department (PWD), the ₹16-crore bridge project began about a year ago with a view to de-congesting Airport Road between Marakada and Airport Entrance. Airport Road is a four-lane stretch between KPT Junction and Marakada. It is a two-lane stretch thereafter.
PWD Executive Engineer in Mangaluru S. Yashavanth Kumar told The Hindu that girders have already been launched on the pillars and work on concreting the deck slabs is being taken up. The sacrificial slab technology being used in the bridge construction does not require scaffolding support from beneath and work can be executed even when it rains, he said.
Approach roads for the bridge are being constructed and they will be completed only after the monsoon, Mr. Kumar said. The department wants the soil pooled for the approach roads to get settled when it rains and that it is in no hurry to complete the approach roads during the monsoon, he noted.
Meanwhile, work on the four-lane road from the bridges to Airport Entrance too is progressing well. Since there are some hill cuttings and rock cuttings, the department wants the earth to get stabilised during the monsoon, he said.
The completion of the four-lane work will coincide with the commissioning of the second bridge, the Executive Engineer said.
The existing bridge, a portion of which had sunken a few foot last monsoon and later stabilised after its foundation was raised, is in good condition and can take traffic. There is no urgency to open the new bridge in a hurry, Mr. Kumar said.
Once the new bridge is commissioned, the department will close the old bridge for traffic for a complete overhaul, he added.
