Coleroon Bridge work in full swing.

Construction work on the new bridge across the Coleroon River is progressing fast and the project will be completed within the scheduled time of November next year, sources in the Highways Department have indicated.

The bridge was sanctioned as the British-built steel girder bridge has outlived its utility.

The State government decided to build a new bridge built across the river to fulfil the long-pending demand of residents, and the Highways Department commenced construction work in November last year.

The narrow steel bridge, which can hardly accommodate two-way traffic, was declared a weak structure in 2005, and since then only light vehicles are allowed to go through the bridge.

Heavy vehicles have to go via the bridge on the Tiruchi-Chennai bypass road. The bridge links Srirangam island, wedged between the Cauvery and the Coleroon, with the rest of the district on the northern side. Motorists travelling between Srirangam and the No.1 tollgate are often caught in traffic snarls on the bridge, running for over 800 metres, in peak hours. The new bridge, along with a minor bridge across the adjoining Ayyan Vaical, has been sanctioned at a cost of Rs. 75.47 crore.

The new bridge will be 792 metres in length with 24 spans of 33 metres each and built on pile foundation. It is coming up close to the existing steel bridge built in 1935 by the British.

According to sources in the Highways Department, nearly 45 per cent of the work has been completed so far.

The sources also indicated that two traffic junctions would come up at the No.1 Tollgate following the construction of the new bridge.


THE HINDU