Bagchal bridge on Sutlej in Bilaspur district to be ready in a week

Hamirpur, February 21

The work on the Bagchal bridge under construction on the Sutlej in Bilaspur district would be completed in one week. It would benefit over 1.5 lakh people of 42 gram panchayats of three districts, said Jitender Kumar, Chief Engineer, PWD (North Zone), who visited the bridge site today.

He said that it was the country’s biggest single-cantilever bridge constructed on the Sutlej at Bagchal. It would take the PWD over 18 years to complete this 330-metre bridge, which has a single cantilever of 185 metre.

The foundation stone of the bridge was laid in 2005 by the then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. However, its construction was halted in 2010. The work resumed in 2016 following the orders of the High Court of Himachal.

The construction of the bridge was reportedly resumed on the initiative of Narender Chauhan, the then PWD secretary. The bridge has one central span of 185 metre and two end spans of 72.5 metre each. It has a 7.5-metre single carriageway of two lanes and 1.5-metre footpaths on both sides.

Superintendent Engineer Jeet Singh Thakur, who was present on the occasion, said approach roads on both sides of the bridge were ready and only painting and marking work was pending. He added that the bridge would be completed before the deadline.

Thakur said that Technical Education Minister Rajesh Dharmani and PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh had visited the bridge site and directed the officials concerned to complete the finishing work at the earliest.