KOHIMA: The much-neglected Road Over Bridge (ROB) near the DDSC stadium, which stood ignored for decades, will finally undergo long-overdue repairs that have been in dire need for more than five decades of its use.
It was after several reports in this newspaper since 2012, regarding the degradation in the condition of the RoB, that the state government has okayed the much-awaited project, which will soon come to fruition.
PWD (NH) SDO Akumdong Walling elaborated that consultancy firm CE Testing of Kolkata has reportedly found two of the nine spans of the bridge to be structurally weak and needed to be replaced.
This he said would demolish two weak spans and rebuilt it using reinforced earth walls for the sustenance of the durability of the bridge.
Others, according to the SDO, are not only just replacing the weak spans, but restoring the pavement, footpaths, and crash barriers. He also added that shotcreting would be applied, a process of applying concrete on damaged portions, on different exposed sections of the road.
As an update, he further said that consultancy had presented a test report based on which the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has sanctioned Rs 2.68 crore towards the rehabilitation of ROB.
He said the work has been given to a local firm of Naga, M/s Innovative Construction. Although the completion timeframe for the project had been six months, he said the department has requested the contractor to hasten up the process considering the importance for Dimapur's traffic. He added that in return, the firm promised to complete the work within three months if no disturbance was created.
He explained that the department also required the contractor to work on multiple sections simultaneously in order not to close the road for long periods of time and the extent of traffic disruption, given the heavy traffic on the bridge. He said that such an approach was aimed at averting the frustration of the public through the lengthening closure of the bridge.
The Deputy Commissioner Dimapur, Dr Tinojongshi Chang, said the NHIDCL had sought a 10-day extension but that the request was turned down for the simple reason that the state government had already announced the closure of the bridge from October 10.
ALSO READ:
ALSO WATCH: