By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 27: The much-talked about Dwar Ksuid bridge in Ri-Bhoi district, which was damaged on few occasions, will soon get a facelift, and possibly a sturdier one.
The Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has sanctioned Rs 10 crore for the construction of the new Dwar Ksuid bridge.
Speaking to The Shillong Times on Monday, a senior official informed that the tender has already been floated by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), while adding that the allotment of the work will be done by January 2022. “The time of completion of the project is December 2022,” the senior official said.
He further informed that as part of the proposal, the bridge would be constructed in the same alignment of the damaged bridge.
“A pre-stressed girder bridge would be constructed and the span will be 75 metres like the old bridge,” the official said.
He said the superstructure of the old bridge would be removed while the sub-structure will remain the same.
It is to be noted that the superstructure will be the portion of the bridge that supports the deck and connects one substructure element to another, while the substructure is the portion of the bridge that supports the superstructure and distributes all bridge loads to below-ground bridge footings.
Replying to a query, the senior official said that the project will be supervised by the NHAI since the Shillong Bypass is still under concession period of 12 years.
It may be recalled that following the damage that took place on Dwar Ksuid bridge, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong, in March this year, had inaugurated the 230-feet bailey bridge along the Shillong Bypass at Dwar Ksuid in Ri-Bhoi.
However, questions were raised after the bailey bridge sustained some damage since there was no regulation in place for overloaded trucks. This bridge, taken up under Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North Eastern Region (SARDP-NE), can support a vehicle with a load under 40 metric tonne.
Former Transport Minister, Sniawbhalang Dhar, had categorically rejected that it is the plying of overloaded vehicles that had led to the damage on the bailey bridge. Dhar had reasoned that the poor-quality planks the cause of breakdown.