Ganderbal, Dec 20: The first of its kind arch-truss-Girder bridge in Wayil area of Central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district over Nallah Sindh on Srinagar-Leh highway is near completion.
The completion of the bridge shall ease the traffic congestion in the area and shall come as a major relief for the commuters travelling on the Srinagar-Leh Highway. Frequent traffic jam on the highway was a major concern for the people in the area.
The executing agencies have geared up the work of vital bridge over nallah Sindh near Wayil in Ganderbal district. “The R&B department has completed 90 percent of the work on the bridge so far, and the work will be completed before January 2023.”
Official sources said that tender was allotted for the construction of a new bridge on Sindh Nallah in the year 2018, financed by World Bank at a cost Rs 23.79 Crores, however, the execution of work got delayed by more than a year owing to cumbersome pre-execution formalities including the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Department of Irrigation and Floods.
After initial hiccups, the work was finally allotted to renowned construction companies-MM Shaal and Hafiz Construction Company who started the construction in October 2020.
The engineers of the company said the bridge is being constructed on arch-truss-girder design using elements of truss bridge and arch bridge besides using girders as the means of supporting its deck thus making it a unique bridge and first of its kind in Kashmir.
The bridge is 110 meters in length constructed at a height of 10 meters from Nallah Sindh base besides having a separate footpath for pedestrians on either sides of the bridge.
According to residents, the Bailey bridge constructed earlier at the location was narrow and thus acted as a major bottleneck in the smooth traffic movement on Srinagar-Leh highway that witness huge rush of tourists especially during Amarnath Yatra. The tourists also used the same bridge to visit several famous tourist destinations including Sonamarg and Naranag.
They said the Bailey bridge is so narrow that a pedestrian couldn’t walk on the bridge if a heavy vehicle crosses. “the new bridge will ease the woes of the locals and the tourists alike as much time of the travelers would get wasted owing to frequent traffic jams,” they added
Executive Engineer R&B Ganderbal Tatheer Manzoor told Rising Kashmir that they have completed 90 percent of the work so far and the project will be completed by next month.
