The Hindu : Three bridges open up new routes to Attukal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 22, 2004

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Three bridges open up new routes to Attukal

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, FEB. 21. Residents of the Attukal, Kalady and Nedumcad wards will soon heave a sigh of relief, thanks to a lifeline extended by the City Corporation. The local body is preparing to open up three new steel bridges across the river Killi, which would link the wards. The new bridges promise to provide alternate routes for vehicular traffic and ease the heavy congestion along the main roads passing through the area.

Built at a cost of Rs.18.5 lakhs, the Thoppilkadavu Bridge linking Soman Nagar to Attukal would provide a substitute to the creaking wooden bridge, which has outlived its lifespan. The Mangottukadavu steel bridge connecting Kalady to Attukal has been built at a cost of Rs.12 lakhs. Though dilapidated, the old wooden bridge here, which was designed only for pedestrian traffic, is still in use.

The third bride at Pulimoottilkadavu replaces the wooden bridge that had broken down last year, leaving a large number of people with the only option of taking a long deviation from Konchiravila to Attukal. Bowing to the demand from local residents, the Corporation is currently operating a ferry service across the river. An amount of Rs.14.5 lakhs was spent on constructing this bridge.

All the three new bridges are capable of accommodating cars and light commercial vehicles. "Initially we had planned to construct foot bridges of 1.8 metre width that could at best carry an auto rickshaw. The project had to be reworked after councillors from the three wards demanded that the bridges be capable of handling vehicular traffic," said the Corporation Assistant Executive Engineer, Jayachandran Nair.

Made of steel, each of the new bridges is 2.2 metres wide and spans a length of 30 metres. Constructed as girder bridges, they consist of a horizontal steel beam supported at each end by piers provided with pile foundations. A heavy steel plate serves as the carriageway while the side channels and angles are also fabricated in steel.

The Chairman of the standing committee on development, B. Soman, said that the shortcut provided by the bridges would benefit hundreds of residents in the three wards and help save precious fuel. He said the completion of the project had been timed to precede the Attukal pongala festival when the three wards witness heavy pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

The Kochi-based Kerala Electrical and Allied Engineering company (KEL), which was entrusted with the construction work, completed the project in four months.

While the Pulimoottilkadavu and Mangottukadavu Bridges would be thrown open on February 23, the Thoppilkadavu Bridge would be inaugurated on February 25.

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