With the closure of the Cauvery bridge in the city for rehabilitation works resulting in severe traffic congestion on the Tiruchi-Chennai Bypass Road, the authorities here are exploring the feasibility of allowing two-wheelers on the old British built bridge which has been in disuse for long.
Drinking water and sewer pipelines run across the old bridge, situated adjacent to the bridge under repair now. The structure serves as walking track for some residents.
The move apparently comes in the wake of representations from the public to the Municipal Administration Minister K. N. Nehru as frequent traffic snarls were being witnessed on the city stretch of the Bypass Road due to the huge volume of traffic. Mr. Nehru had reportedly instructed the Highways Department to examine the feasibility of allowing two-wheelers on the old bridge.
On Thursday the old bridge was being spruced up, both by the Highways Department and the Tiruchi Corporation.
Sources in the Highways Department said the Minister had instructed that the bridge be cleaned before a decision was taken. Although the bridge was old and had been in disuse for long, the structure was “safe” to allow two-wheelers on it. However, the vehicles could be allowed only on one direction as the entry point to the bridge on the city side was constricted by an angular pipeline. The decision on which way the vehicles are to be allowed would be taken by the district authorities and the police, the sources said.
Mayor M. Anbazhagan inspected the old bridge apparently after being told that the sewage pipelines running over it were leaking. Steps have been taken to plug the leakage, Mr. Anbazhagan told The Hindu. He too indicated that one-way traffic was likely to be allowed on the bridge and the Municipal Administration Minister would take a call this weekend. Some encroachments near the entry point on the Mambazhasalai side would be cleared, he added.
Meanwhile, a section of road safety activists have suggested diversion of goods vehicles passing through the city in order to ease the congestion on the Tiruchi-Chennai Bypass Road. “Goods lorries heading towards Chennai from Madurai via Tiruchi can be diverted at Thuvarankurichi to go via Manapparai, Kulithalai, Musiri, Thuraiyur and Perambalur. Goods vehicles from Dindigul can also take the same route from Manapparai. Lorries coming in the opposite direction too can take the same route. The diversion can be enforced until the rehabilitation work on Cauvery bridge is completed,” said N. Saravanan, a road safety activist.
The Highways Department has taken up the rehabilitation works on the Cauvery bridge, running between Mambazasalai and Chinthamani, at an estimated cost of ₹ 6.87 crore. While works on the foundation were completed earlier, repairs on the structure above and the road surface have been taken up now.
The bridge was closed for vehicular traffic, except two wheelers, from September 10 and light and heavy vehicles were diverted via the Chennai-Tiruchi Bypass Road. The bridge was closed for two wheelers too from November 20 as elastomeric bearings had to be fixed on the deck slabs. The works are expected to continue for another two to three months.
Old bridge reconstructed in 1920s
The narrow bridge across the Cauvery in the city, which had remained closed for traffic several decades now, had been built on the foundation of an ancient bridge which was washed away in the great flood of 1924.
According to a stone plaque at the site, the bridge was built on the foundations of the old arched bridge which was damaged by the floods of 1924. “The bridge was opened by His Excellency The Right Honourable Viscount Goschen of Hawkhurst, G.C.I.E., C.B.E., V.D., Governor of Madras, on the 24th January 1929,” the tablet reads. The reconstruction of the bridge began on 12th March, 1928 and was completed on 20th January 1929.
Another tablet indicates that “this bridge” (an apparent reference to old arched bridge) was dedicated to the memory of a group of Madras Army officers who had defended Trichnopoly with bravery and fortitude in 1752, 1754, contributing to the laying of the foundation of the British Empire in India and was “designed” and completed by Captain Edward Lawford, Madras Engineers, A.D.1849.”
Some years ago, the district administration in association with the Exnora had converted the bridge as a walkers track. But the structure fell into disuse after a few years owing to poor maintenance.
The stone tablet commemorating the opening of the Cauvery bridge in Tiruchi. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
