73 percent of project work completed
STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The six-lane extradosed bridge project across the Brahmaputra connecting Guwahati and North Guwahati is going to miss its target schedule for, as it says, the typical current of the mighty river. The construction company and the State Government have no way out but to reschedule the completion target.
The construction of the six-lane high-tech extradosed bridge began in August 2019 with a completion schedule of mid-August 2023. At the initial stage, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the progress of the work. To cap it all, the turbulent current of the Brahmaputra this year and last year dealt a blow to the project. Though the works of the project are underway on both banks, the works in the main bridge portion (middle of the river) remained affected. The water current does not allow the barges to be kept on the surface of the water. The engineers and other workers engaged in the project have to take materials on barges besides working from them. The problem was the same last year, when the state witnessed a devastating flood and the river maintained a high water level from April to October.
The construction company took up the matter with the State Government. Now the government and the construction company are set to reschedule the target schedule for December 2024. Since the project is externally aided, the State Government has sent the proposed rescheduling of the project to the Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India, for approval.
Meanwhile, the physical progress of the six-lane project, according to sources, is 73 percent complete.
The bridge is being constructed under the Assam Bridge Project of the state's Public Works Department (PWD) by SP Singla Constructions Pvt. Ltd. of Haryana in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) mode. The total cost of the bridge is Rs 2,608.68 crore, and the funding agency is the New Development Bank (NDB). The main portion of the bridge will be 1.24 kilometres long.
According to PWD sources, once completed, it will be India's longest extradosed bridge.
The design of the bridge has been as per Indian Road Congress guidelines to ensure that it lasts for at least 100 years, the sources informed. In addition to the main bridge, a 1.20-km flyover is also under construction along the riverbank from near the Bhootnath cremation ground up to the ITA Machkhowa area. The flyover and the bridge will get connected near the Machkhowa area in a Y-shape.
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