Work on the 1.20-km-long new bridge across the Godavari at the temple-town of Bhadrachalam continues to drag on after missing an extended deadline of 2018.
More than four and a half years have passed since the work on the high-level bridge began parallel to the existing old bridge over the river in the temple-town to ensure hassle-free vehicular movement on the crucial link to the vast tribal hinterland stretching across neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
The new bridge was sanctioned with an estimated outlay of ₹98.45 crore a little over six years ago to ease traffic congestion on the existing five-decade-old bridge, part of the National Highway 30 (Old NH-221), the vital road link between Telangana-Andhra Pradesh-Chhattisgarh.
The new bridge was to be completed by June 2018 as per the extended deadline.
Initially, there was considerable delay in execution of the civil works owing to frequent floods in the Godavari and some technical obstructions in laying piers on the rocky terrain in the river zone, sources in the National Highway (NH) wing of the Roads & Buildings Department said.
Work on the major components, including nearly 36 piers of the new bridge, has been completed and plans are afoot to lay a diversion road to facilitate construction of the remaining main piers by employing gas cutting method to level the uneven rocky stretch of the river zone, said an official of the R&B Department.
Penalties had been levied on the contractor concerned for the delay in execution of works and focus has been laid on ensuring speedy completion of the bridge by the year-end, the official, who did not wish to be identified, said.
