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Bridge across Godavari in bad shape
Barely a year after the fourth bridge across the Godavari was laid, the road-over-bridge was in bad shape. The road was not maintained properly despite the heavy vehicular traffic. The road had developed pits rendering them unsafe for movement of vehicles including two-wheelers.
Rajamahendravaram: Barely a year after the fourth bridge across the Godavari was laid, the road-over-bridge was in bad shape. The road was not maintained properly despite the heavy vehicular traffic. The road had developed pits rendering them unsafe for movement of vehicles including two-wheelers.
It may be mentioned here that the bridge built by the contractor, Gammon India Private Limited at a cost of Rs 800 crore was in the news for all the wrong reasons. The construction was delayed due to various reasons forcing Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to intervene and direct Gammon India to complete the works before Godavari Pushkaralu in 2015.
The company cited reasons such as land acquisition issues and non-availability of sand for the delay in works.
The total length of the bridge is 6 km, and it has two approach roads on Rajamahendravaram (8 km) and Kovvur (1 km) sides. The four-lane bridge has two abutments, 81 piers and 166 expansion joints.
Earlier, a few meters of road were damaged due to soil erosion on the embankment. The 6-km road connects the four-lane road bridge across the Godavari from Diwancheruvu. The approach road spread over 200 metres on the Diwancheruvu side too caved in at six places near Kateru. The bad roads were giving tough time to the drivers of buses and trucks too.
Though, toll fee was being collected from vehicle owners, no steps were being taken to repair the road. Commuters have been urging the civic authorities to take immediate steps to restore the damaged road in view of Antya Pushkaralu to Godavari scheduled to be held from July 31.
Though the objective of the fourth bridge is to cut short the Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam distance by 35 km and to ease traffic congestion on the road-over-bridge, travelling on this route has become a nightmare for motorists, particularly in the rainy season. The big potholes and uneven roads have made life miserable for them as water stagnates in the pits even after a small downpour.
By: Samson Raj
