Detailed project report for new Cauvery bridge to be ready within a month

It will entail an investment of ₹130 crore approximately, besides land acquisition costs

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed new bridge across the Cauvery river in the city is expected to be finalised within a month, according to sources in the Highways Department.

The government had decided to build a new bridge across the river after the existing one developed huge gaps in the expansion joints.

Built in 1976, the bridge across the river is a vital link, connecting Tiruchi city with Srirangam and caters to a huge volume of traffic. Over the past few years motorists have been complaining over the severe jolts experienced by them while driving on the bridge. In September 2018, the department officials used advanced guniting method to repair the damaged edges. The work was taken up at expansion joints where broken edges were identified. Yet gaps keep surfacing on the expansion joints of the bridge.

Following the complaints, officials of the Highways Research Station had conducted a study. Due to the heavy and continuous traffic for over four decades, damages were found in the “dirt and wing wall of abutments,” and scouring of piers besides wear and tear of the elastometric bearings in all supports. The riverbed around the foundation had also undergone scouring in at least nine piers.

The government has already sanctioned ₹6.50 crore to take up a major rehabilitation of the existing bridge and the work was already under way.

Meanwhile, the department had recently completed soil tests on the riverbed to determine to what depth the foundation has to be laid for the proposed new bridge. The tests would be followed by a land survey, finalisation of the alignment and preparation of estimates, the sources indicated.

Though the alignment of the new bridge is yet to be finalised, it is likely to be built on the upstream side of the existing bridge. The new bridge would entail an investment of ₹130 crore approximately, besides land acquisition costs. According to available indications, the project may involve some land acquisition.