KOLKATA: The reconstructed Tallah bridge is expected to be ready by next April. The state public works department (PWD), the nodal agency of the project, expects to start working on launching the steel girders of the bridge from November once it receives the permission from the Railways.
PWD officials said work has been going on and the reconstructed bridge’s piers and viaduct have been set up. “The design and drawing of the steel girders have been completed and cleared as work is entering its last phase. This work is expected to start from November and an application has been submitted to the Railways for the permission,” said a senior PWD official.
Officials said, at present, fabrication work of the bridge is going on and the bridge should be tentatively ready for opening around the Bengali new year. The authorities held a review meeting before Puja to take stock of work progress and site inspections have been going on at frequent intervals.
“It depends on how soon the steel girder launching can start as this is one of the most crucial parts of reconstructing the bridge,” said a PWD official.
Once the girders are fixed on the bridge’s viaduct, other minor work, like relaying the road below and painting the bridge’s retaining wall, and other technical work will be left before the bridge can finally be opened for traffic.
The reconstructed Tallah bridge, which will connect Shyambazar with BT Road, will be be about 750m long and have a 200m-long deck slab stretching over the railway tracks. An estimated Rs 350 crore has been pegged as the cost to complete the bridge reconstruction project.
In 2019, the state had decided to dismantle the previous 625m-long Tallah bridge after a structural assessment.
