Bridge to be rebuilt in 6 months

MUMBAI: The state government has set a target of reconstructing the 88-year-old (constructed in 1928) 190-metre long bridge, which collapsed on Wednesday within six months. The normal time taken for the reconstruction of such bridges is 24 months, while this one will be constructed in record time to set an example, according to sources.

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The state has about 900 bridges which were constructed during British rule.

Some of them date back to 1910, while the oldest one was built in 1875 in Kanhan in Nagpur. Most of the old bridges constructed by the British companies are in the Konkan region. The state government has announced it will conduct the structural audits of these old bridges.

“We have 36 of the old structures in Konkan. The audit takes about four to five days for each bridge. Besides the inspections, we also conduct non-descriptive tests during the audit. The audit of these bridges will be completed within the next few days and the construction or repairs will be undertaken at the earliest,” said an official from the PWD.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced in the state assembly that there were no records with the government of having received any letter from the British companies. An official from the public works department said they did never receive any letter from any foreign company in the past.

Local MLA Bharat Gogawale (Shiv Sena) had said on Wednesday that the British Company, which constructed the bridge, had written to the government in 2013 informing them that the life of the bridge was complete and it needed to be replaced.