Although the initial works including soil testing for the proposed new bridge across the Godavari at Bhadrachalam has begun, the long-awaited facility is unlikely to become a reality before the ‘Godavari Pushkaralu’ slated to be held in the middle next year.
The second bridge across the river at the temple town has been necessitated in view of the frequent traffic congestion on the existing five decades old bridge, frequented by thousands of people every day.
The bridge is part of the National Highway 221 (New NH No. 30) connecting Vijaywada in the residuary Andhra Pradesh and Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh. It is a vital road link on the inter-State borders with AP, Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
Though the plan to construct a second bridge parallel to the existing old bridge was mooted a couple of years ago, it received the government’s nod last year. It was initially announced that the new bridge would be completed expeditiously at a cost of Rs.150 crore.
It formed an essential component of the multi-focal infrastructure development plan mooted by the then Congress government keeping in view the Godavari Pushkaralu-2015 expected to draw lakhs of devotees to the temple town.
However, the construction of the new bridge is likely to take at least two years as the actual work is expected to be taken up towards the fag-end of this year, sources added.
The construction work of the new bridge estimated to cost around Rs.79 crore has been allotted to a Mumbai-based company through the tendering process, said J. Chandrasekhar, Executive Engineer, National Highway Division, Warangal.
The bridge will be constructed under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode by the company. The construction firm is presently carrying out soil investigation and other preparatory activities to design the new bridge based on stipulated parameters such as volume of traffic on the existing bridge and the maximum flood level in the Godavari at the temple town.
