Kullu: Samples of damaged Bhootnath bridge sent for testing

Our Correspondent

Kullu, October 29

A team of experts has taken samples of Bhootnath bridge and sent the data to Dubai for examination. Five tests were conducted on the damaged portion. The bridge has been lying closed for traffic for almost three years.

A 30-tonne tipper was parked on different parts of the bridge to examine its infrastructure in addition to the static load capacity. The data collected has been sent to experts in Dubai, who will determine further course of action after scanning the data.

About bhootnath bridge

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• The foundation stone of the 96-metre bridge built on the Beas was laid in 2005.
• It was completed in 2013 and it developed cracks in 2018.
• The bridge connects the left bank bypass to the right bank road near the Kullu bus stand in the Sarwari area of Kullu town.

The sample report will be received within 15 days and the repair work of the bridge will be done based on the report. The expert team of Freyssinet Menard Company and Public Works department (PWD) were involved in taking of the samples.

The repair work of the damaged portion of the bridge had commenced in January 2020. The repair work was, however, hampered after the outbreak of Covid. The PWD has been postponing the completion of repairs and restoration of the bridge for traffic.

Importantly, the repair work of the damaged bridge is being carried out by spending Rs 2.68 crore, while it was built with a budget of Rs 10 crore. The foundation stone of this 96-metre bridge built on the Beas was laid in 2005. It was completed in 2013 and it developed cracks in 2018. It connects the left bank bypass to the right bank road near the Kullu bus stand in the Sarwari area of Kullu town.

KK Sharma, Superintending Engineer, PWD, Kullu, said that the samples have been sent to the company’s head office in Dubai for investigation and the repair work will be carried out after the sample report is received. He said that the expert team has checked every aspect of the bridge. The retrofitting work will be started soon. He added that if the test report is okay, the repair work will be completed within one-and-a-half months.

The residents are hopeful that their traffic woes would end once the repair work on the bridge is done and it is restored for traffic. The traffic problem has escalated in Kullu town due to the closure of the bridge and agriculturists of the left bank region are particularly hassled.