Cauvery bridge repair likely to be completed by Pongal

TIRUCHI

Rehabilitation works on the Cauvery bridge in Tiruchi is likely to be completed by Pongal, sources in the Highways Department have said.

The renovation work is being executed by the department at an estimated cost of ₹6.87 crore, following persistent complaints from road users over the severe jolts experienced by them while negotiating the expansion joints.

Built in 1976, the bridge caters to a huge volume of traffic. In recent years, the Highways Department used advanced guniting method to repair damaged edges at the expansion joints. Yet gaps keep surfacing on the expansion joints of the bridge, causing severe jolts to motorists. While works on the foundation has been executed, repairs on the structure above and the road surface are being executed now.

The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic, except two-wheelers, from September 10 and light and heavy vehicles were diverted via Chennai-Tiruchi Bypass Road. The bridge was closed to two-wheelers too from November 20 as elastomeric bearings had to be fixed on the deck slabs.

At present, works are under way on a fast pace and the Highways Department is now engaged in fixing the bearings. “The deck slabs, each weighting about 1,000 tonnes, are being lifted up using jacks to fix the bearings. The work has to be completed in all 16 slabs. We expect to complete the work by Pongal,” a senior official of the department said.

With Vaikunda Ekadasi festival under way at Ranganathaswamy Temple, the temple town of Srirangam would attract a huge influx of devotees this fortnight, especially on January 2 on the occasion of the opening of the Paramapatha Vasal. As the bridge is an arterial link between Tiruchi City and Srirangam, the Highways Department is exploring the feasibility of allowing devotees by foot on the bridge for the festival’s most important day, sources indicated.