PANAJI
Ground work on the new eight lane Zuari Bridge is expected to take about six months, said Public Works Development (PWD) chief engineer following the contract being given to Madhya Pradesh based company, Dilip Buildcon Ltd.
Speaking to The Goan, PWD chief engineer Borkar said a project this big would require follow the general pattern followed during the construction of any bridge and would take a minimum of six months for physical work to be seen.
“The contract was only recently given and will take a few months before any actual work begins. The General Arrangement Drawing (GAD) is the first step after the giving of the contract.”
“Following that there will be several steps including structure design and soil testing before any visible work on the bridge can be seen,” he said.
Though the DPR of the bridge is already in place, the ground reality and the work that would be required was only going to be ascertained after the company prepared a secondary report.
The MP-based company’s bid was 19 percent lower than the estimated cost of `697 crore to build the 8-lane cable stayed Zuari bridge.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had floated a tender requesting proposal from eligible contractors to construct the bridge at an estimated cost of `676 crore including approaches on October 6, 2015.
The work will be completed within a period of three years and the approach roads would be ready in 96 months.
Meanwhile, talking about the status of the current bridge, Borkar also said the structure was fit to handle the traffic it currently handles.
“When the bridge was first built, it was meant to cater to a much lesser volume of vehicles. Today, trucks and tempos has increased. They are obviously not allowed on the bridge, but the new bridge is being built keeping in mind all the future requirements and being designed in that effect,” he said.
