About 76 per cent of the work on the construction of the new bridge coming across the Coleroon has been completed and the bridge would be ready to be opened for traffic by November, the Highways Department has indicated.
The bridge has been modelled on the Napier Bridge in Chennai with bowstring arches, giving it unique characteristic.
K. Jayaraman, Chief Engineer, Highways (Construction & Maintenance), inspected the progress of construction of the bridge and instructed the officials to ensure that the bridge was completed within the contracted period, which ends in November.
Of the 24 spans of the bridge, 15 have been completed, Highways officials said after the inspection.
The bridge would replace the British-built steel girder bridge, which has outlived its utility. The narrow steel bridge was declared a weak structure in 2005. Since then only light vehicles were allowed to go through the bridge and heavy vehicles have to go via the bridge on Tiruchi-Chennai Bypass Road. Motorists travelling between Srirangam and the No.1 tollgate are often caught in traffic snarls on the bridge, running for over 800 metres, in peak hours.
The new bridge, built adjacent to the existing steel bridge built in 1935, would run for 792 metres.
The bridge would sport 24 bowstring arches instead of the conventional parapet. The bridge links Srirangam island, wedged between the Cauvery and the Coleroon, with the rest of the district on the northern side. The new bridge, along with a minor bridge across the adjoining Ayyan Vaical, has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 75.47 crore.
V.S. Thangavelu, Superintending Engineer, and T. Sathyamurthy, Divisional Engineer, Highways (Construction & Maintenance), accompanied the Chief Engineer during his inspection.
