The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Bridge across Godavari to be closed from today

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 20, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Bridge across Godavari to be closed from today

Staff Reporter

Repair work to be completed in two months, says R&B Executive Engineer

CRUCIAL LINK: The rail-cum-road bridge across the Godavari which will be closed for road traffic from Friday.— Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

RAJAHMUNDRY: The imposing rail-cum-road bridge built across the Godavari three decades ago will be closed for special repairs from Friday.

It will take two months to complete work on the bridge, a crucial link between East and West Godavari districts, according to the Executive Engineer, Roads and Buildings, K. Venugopala Rao.

Closure of the bridge for road traffic will not, however, affect movement of long distance vehicles on the Chennai-Kolkata National Highway 5 as they will be diverted via Dowleiswaram from Gundugolanu to Ravulapalem.

Repair work on this bridge has been postponed twice. It has been awarded to S.V. Enterprises of Hyderabad, the only bidder for the contract after the second call.

The R&B Department had called for tenders twice earlier -- in March and in April. None came forward to execute the work since it required expertise to repair 29 main pillars. This expertise was available with one or two companies in the entire south. The R&B Department has agreed to run 12 launches between Rajahmundry and Kovvuru to reduce the distance through road.

The RTC, on the other hand, has decided to increase bus fare as the distance will be increased by 16 km due to traffic diversion.

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