Rly to construct steel bridge for BRTS

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, February 16

A 52-metre long concrete and steel bridge will be constructed by Railways for the Punjab government’s ambitious bus rapid transit system (BRTS). It will take nearly three more months to complete the bridge at a cost of Rs 15 crore.

Officials associated with the construction of the bridge in the Railways said it would be a composite bridge with concrete and steel structure.

Preferring anonymity they stated that three slabs of 170 tonnes each would be laid underneath the bridge. Cranes from Delhi would be called in order to lift and place extremely heavy girders.

They categorically denied that rail traffic would be closed for several hours for completing the process. They added that in all rail traffic would be stopped for nearly six hours on the stretch over many days.

The bridge will have four lanes, two each for up and down.

Elevated roads across both sides of the railway lines are complete. Construction of the slab will finish the loop of the BRTS project around Bhandari Railway Over Bridge.

It is apparent that the BRTS scheme will once again jump its deadline. Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had announced that the project would be operational in February. Earlier, it was scheduled to be finished in September.

With a total length of 30.73 km, the BRTS project aims to provide transport to residents of the border city, besides reducing traffic mess and other bottlenecks.

The Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) outsourced the construction work for the BRTS project to a private firm while the PWD (B&R) is its executing agency.

The project saw construction of nearly 5 km elevated corridors on Albert Road, Bhandari Bridge loop, Bhandari Bridge roundabout to Daburji bypass, Central Core Hussainpura Chowk to Celebration Mall to Kitchlu Chowk to Albert Road junction, SSSS Chowk to Crystal Chowk, Celebration Mall to the NH Bypass, the NH Bypass to Verka Canal and the railway over bridge at Verka.

According to the design, an elevated path has been constructed on the 2.5 metre-wide columns in middle of these roads. Besides, there is motor-vehicle road on both sides of these columns.