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Prayagraj: New Yamuna Bridge repair work to begin on June 1
At a time when city commuters are already battling traffic chaos because of the ongoing construction work at the railway underpass near the old Niranjan Cinema Hall, the repair work at the new bridge over river Yamuna is also set to kick-start from June 1
At a time when city commuters are already battling traffic chaos because of the ongoing construction work at the railway underpass near the old Niranjan Cinema Hall, the repair work at the new bridge over river Yamuna is also set to kick-start from June 1.
However, thanks to the meticulous planning of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) the probability of traffic jams has been reduced substantially, claim officials.
A budget of ₹17 crore has been approved for the repair of the Yamuna Bridge. The tender for the repair work has been given to a French company, Fressinet. Firstly, the work of changing the bearings of the bridge will be done followed by other works including the replacement of jointers, they added.
“We have already completed the work of strengthening the main beams and now the change of bearings and other associated work needs to be done for which we have chalked out a detailed plan so that the flow of traffic is least affected,” said the project director, NHAI, Prayagraj, Pankaj Mishra.
According to Mishra, while the work for repair and associated work would be carried out on one side of the bridge, the other side of the bridge (the second road) would remain open for traffic.
“One side of the road would be kept open from June 1 to 8 while the second side would be closed. Likewise, alternately, week-wise either of the two sides would be kept open and closed till July 15,” he explained.
The project director said that while the department has chalked out the plan till July 15, NHAI will try its level best to complete the process well before the set date.
The New Yamuna Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge which was constructed by the end of 2004 with the aim of minimising the traffic over the old bridge over the river Yamuna. The bridge runs north–south across the river Yamuna connecting the city of Prayagraj to its main industrial area of Naini.
The construction of the bridge was consulted by a Danish consulting company while the main construction was done by Hyundai and was successfully completed in 2004. The bridge has a total length of 1,510 m, with the longest span of 260 m, and is supported by a cable that anchors the bridge to the ground.
Replacing the bearing and repairing the bridge is done every 18 to 20 years. This bridge has been in use for the past 18 years and in such a situation, the proposed repair work is important to prevent further damage to the structure officials maintain, officials said.
During the repair of the new bridge, vehicles will be allowed to pass through the old bridge too which would help ease some pressure from the new bridge.
