The Chennai Corporation will soon take up works to repair the hand rails, staircases, footpaths and lighting on the Kodambakkam Bridge. Sources said that tenders had been settled for these works that will be completed along with the repair works on strengthening the bridge.
The bridge, which was constructed in 1963, will be closed during weekends for the next two months. Sources in the Chennai Corporation said that the repairs were necessitated as preventive maintenance had not been taken up for several years.
“Even during the weekdays, one portion of the bridge, where work is proceeding, would always be cordoned off,” explained an official. A few years ago, an expert study had concluded that the expansion joints of the bridge had weakened due to water seepage.
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Though the process of repairing and strengthening the bridge was started in mid 2011, it has taken the civic body nearly two years to vacate a market, a few shops and houses beneath the facility.