The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : New structure replaces stone and mortar

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Nov 13, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

New structure replaces stone and mortar

S. Harpal Singh

The masonry-arch bridge will be eclipsed by the upcoming one

Past glory: The majestic bridge across the Godavari links Adilabad district with Nizamabad on NH 7 at Soan village in Nirmal mandal.

NIRMAL (ADILABAD DT.): Just when it looked as if the majestic masonry-arch bridge across the Godavari river at Soan village in Nirmal mandal had reached the end of the road, there emerges another new structure-the four-laning of the highway. This is the new bridge linking Adilabad district with Nizamabad on NH 7. Coming up as it does just by the side of the 75-year-old one, it will ensure the latter’s graceful ‘retirement’ from service in about one year’s time.

The existing old bridge was made of stone and mortar, a technique popularly used in construction during those days. The style of its construction lends a structural beauty to it.

There are hardly any ‘eye-witnesses’ around who can throw some light on many of the interesting facts associated with the unique bridge. However, some of the basic facts like its statistics are available in official records.

The expenditure incurred in the construction this bridge during the reign of the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1932, stood at a whopping Rs. 9.5 lakh.

The entire length of bridge is over three quarters of a kilometre with a carriageway of nearly 5.5 metres. The bridge was designed to withstand the fury of the mighty Godavari river when in spate. It has 36 vents, 28 metres wide with each capable of discharging 74,000 cusecs coming from a catchment area of over 1 lakh square metres.

The marvellous facet of this structure is its load-bearing capacity. During the time when it was built, there were no transport vehicles that could carry weights up to 50 tonnes like the modern trailer lorries.

Nevertheless, it has aided vehicles with considerable weight to cross the wide ‘length’ of the Godavari without ever ‘buckling’ under the extra pressure.

The cumulative weight that traversed over the bridge over the long period of its existence will surely run into several millions of tonnes.

The new bridge is likely to be completed within one year, given the speed of its construction. This will give the ‘archaic’ structure a much wanted relief.

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