the goan I network
PANAJI
Load testing on the approach section from the Porvorim side of the third Mandovi bridge commenced with vehicles weighing up to 189 tonnes being placed on the bridge on Thursday evening.
A total of 12 trucks of 15.8 tonnes each were kept on the bridge with around 50 engineers from Larsen & Turbo, officials of Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation, IIT Bombay and other government consultants supervising the operation.
The Porvorim side approach section of the bridge is completed while work on the access roads on the northern side connecting Panaji, Merces bypass and further towards Margao are currently still in progress.
Asphalting, barricading and electrical work of the bridge is also in progress and GSIDC vice-chairman Sidharth Kuncoliencar said it will be completed by January 12.
A total of Rs 483 crore has been spent on construction of the bridge which was originally slated for inauguration on January 12 at the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The inauguration has now been put off due to Modi’s non-availability as national level events of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have also been planned around the same time.
Kuncolienkar said the inauguration will be re-scheduled as per the availability of the Prime Minister which in all likelihood will be in January itself.
Work on the bridge, a pet project of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, had begun in 2014 and has overshot multiple completion deadlines as well as cost estimates.
Parrikar, who is battling pancreatic cancer and was confined to his private residence at Dona Paula chose to go to the bridge site to make his first public appearance since returning from AIIMS Delhi in mid-October.
The foundation stone for it was laid by Modi days after he took over as Prime Minister after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Parrikar has warded off criticism from the Opposition Congress and several other quarters that a third bridge over the Mandovi river was unnecessary, saying it was crucial to deal with congestion and future needs.
