Bridge work to begin next week

Jamshedpur, Feb. 13: The construction of the parallel bridge over Kharkai is set to commence in a week.

Officials of Mangotia Constructions, the company given the contract to develop the project, said they have received the final map of the bridge and there are few obstacles that need to be addressed before they can start on the project.

“We have to remove a few overhead electricity cables and some trees need to be cut on Adityapur side before construction can begin. We have also applied for power at our base office on Jamshedpur side of the bridge,” said R. Mangotia, the managing director of the city-based construction company.

He said the project has been delayed by over seven months after the contract was awarded to them in July last year.

“We have been given 22 months for construction of the bridge and our engineers would try their best to complete it within time. There are some issues of forest clearance on Adityapur side of the bridge due to which we propose to start the construction from the Jamshedpur side,” said Mangotia.

He said they have to cut trees to construct the approach road in Adityapur and have applied for clea-rance from the state forest department.

The proposed bridge would have four lanes with a width of 14m and length of 122m.

According to Mangotia, from next week they would start work on the foundation of the bridge for which they have placed the order for raw materials.

The bridge is being developed at an estimated cost of around Rs 15 crore.

Though there is a two-lane bridge connecting East Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan, it is in a dilapi-dated state. Truck carrying loads of over 18 tonnes have been restricted from plying through it.

A parallel bridge would solve the issue of traffic congestion on Adityapur-Kandra main road, which is a regular sight on the stretch considered to be the lifeline of neighbouring district.

Superintendent engineer of road construction (Singhbhum division) T. Hansda said they were waiting for the final map from Central Designing Organisation.

“Since, the map has arrived a few days ago we would start the bridge construction next week,” Hansda said.
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