The Highways Department has taken up widening of Lalgudi-Perambalur highway for smooth and safe operation of heavy vehicles and trucks.
In the first phase, widening of narrow culverts built during the British period has been taken up. “Though narrow, they were very stable and it was difficult to demolish the steel and other raw materials used for their construction,” an official of the Highways Department told The Hindu at Kumulur.
The widening of the road together with culvert had been taken up at Piralai Vaikkal near Kumulur. The length of the new bridge is 24 metres and its width is 10 metres. Two spans, each 9.40 metre in length, had been constructed. As a large number of heavy vehicles pass this area, the road is being widened from the original 3.75 metres to seven metres. The work is expected to be completed within six months.
A large number of educational institutions and industrial units in Tiruchi – Perambalur segment had necessitated the construction of the new minor bridge replacing the old narrow culvert. The minor bridge had been designed in such a way that two heavy vehicles can cross it in opposite directions at any time. “The narrow culvert, with a curve on both sides, was an accident-prone zone,” say sources.
