the goan I network
PANAJI
Inaugurated with much fanfare by Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar the Rs 58-crore Gandaulim-Cumbarjua bridge which shortens the distance between Old Goa and Marcel by eight kilometres is in trouble.
Work to strengthen the steel arch is on in full swing with supervisors on the site informing that the work was initiated to ensure that the steel arch does not tilt further.
“The work is on the strengthen the steel arch. The work is on to arrest weaknesses in the steel arch and ensure that it does not bend further,” a supervisor at the site who declined to be named as he was not authorised to comment on the matter said.
The steel arch is being strengthened with cross beams that now diagonally strengthens the arch instead of just cross beams.
This deelopment means that the bridge, inaugurated on April 24 last year and is not even a year-old is in trouble.
The Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation under whose aegis the work was undertaken has remained tight lipped on the bridge only informing that it would be closed “to execute works such as fixing of metal beam crash barriers, electrification and other allied works” with no mention of what ails the bridge.
The work was initially scheduled to be undertaken between December 28 and January 31, but is now expected to be completed only after February 20.
Earlier, the government installed height barriers restricting the use of the bridge only to light vehicles which was seen as another testament to the ‘weakness’ of the new bridge.
In May last year, barely two weeks after the bridge was inaugurated,
The Goan had pointed out that the steel arch was showing a noticeable tilt towards one side.
However, the GSIDC then explained the tilt saying that it was ‘deliberate’.
“The design was created that way to deflect load while overcoming the limitation of elasticity and expansion, which is normally faced by a steel-made structure, especially in temperature and weather conditions of Goa,” a highly placed source from GSIDC said.
Built over the Cumbarjua canal, the Cumbarjua Bridge has a width of 123 mts while the total length of the bridge at Gaundalim is 400 mts with a weight of 250 MT.
The bridge consists of two lanes with 7.5 mts carriageway and 1.5 m wide footpaths on either side.
The length of the approach roads leading to Gaundalim and Cumbarjua side is about 1 km. The length of the approach road to Cumbarjua Bridge is 1.02 kms
Besides the building of the bridge, the total scope of construction work includes the approach roads to Gaundalim; the approach roads to Cumbarjua including the link up to Khandola College and the widening and strengthening of the existing road from Old Goa junction to Gaundalim Bridge, which includes the asphalting from Old Goa junction to Khandola College.
The construction will reduce the distance between Panaji and Sankhali by eight kms.
GSIDC-appointed project management consultants for the bridge, M/s S N Bhobe and Associates Pvt Ltd had also explained that the tilt is a part of the design saying that once a rolling load is placed on the bridge, the arch comes into actual position.
“It is not going to affect the stability and also not affect the structure of the bridge.”
Defence Minister and former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar inaugurated the bridge along with a battery of politicians including Shripad Naik, Central Minister for AYUSH; GSIDC Chairman and MLA Sankhali Constituency Pramod Sawant; Panaji MLA and Vice-Chairman Sidharth Kuncalienker; Pandurang Madkaikar, MLA Cumbarjua Constituency and other invitees.
bridging the gap
The work is on to arrest weaknesses in the steel arch and ensure that it does not bend further
The steel arch is being strengthened with cross beams that now diagonally strengthens the arch instead of just cross beams
safety precautions
The government installed height barriers restricting the use of the bridge only to light vehicles
GSIDC’s take
Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation under whose aegis the work was undertaken has remained tight lipped on the bridge
It said that the bridge would be closed “to execute works such as fixing of metal beam crash barriers, electrification and other allied works” with no mention of what ails the bridge
