TIRUCHY: Days after the Ministry of Defence gave the nod for transferring its land for the Tiruchy road overbridge (RoB) project, the State Highways Department has begun civil works for completion of the remainder arm.
Almost eight years after the construction began, the Highways Department last week managed to complete the final part of land acquisition for the RoB, after the Ministry of Defence agreed to transfer its land parcel of 0.66 acres under an EVI scheme to it.
Even as the ministry is finalising on what infrastructure is to be constructed by the indenting agency, the Highways Department has begun the process to float the tender for completion of the unfinished arm of 132 metres.
Although a tender was floated to the tune of Rs 2.93 crore in January this year to complete the project, it was not executed as they could not complete land acquisition in time.
A senior official from the Highways Department said, "As the Defence Ministry is still deciding on what infrastructure to be built for them to the value of
Rs 8.45 crore, we have started the process to float the tender. By the time we identify the contractor, the ministry would arrive at a decision. In that matter, the construction could begin right after the land transfer is made and we hope to complete the construction within six months."
Apart from constructing the remainder arm, the bidder in the new tender should also undertake a few maintenance works in the remaining four arms of the bridge and provide proper approach roads for all the entry and exit points.
Stage II of RoB project
With the prevalence of major obstacles in the RoB’s completion, the Highways Department for several years overlooked Stage 2 of the project. With the recent clearance, it has begun preliminary study processes for the second part.
Under Stage 2, the Highways Department along with the Southern Railway planned to demolish and reconstruct the railway bridge running between Tiruchy junction station and the Mannarpuram Junction. Even as the construction of the unfinished arm will go on in one hand, the Highways Department will work along with the Railway to materialise the second stage of the project, the Highways Department stated.
"All our focus till now has been on completing the actual RoB first. Now with that settled, we will begin talks with the Railway to reconstruct the bridge. We hope to complete all the civil works in the RoB construction by mid-2022 and then immediately proceed with Stage 2 of the project," an official said.
Once the RoB is completed, the traffic will be diverted onto the bridge before commencing Stage 2 works, officials said.
The long-pending project finally getting back on track for completion has come in for appreciation.
Sakthivel, a native of the city said, "We are delighted that finally the project to decongest the city traffic is coming to an end. We hope there would not be any more delays and the bridge is commissioned. We welcome the move."