Old Saraighat Bridge Likely To Open For Commuters by June 20
- Jun 15, 2019,
- Updated Jun 15, 2019, 1:43 AM IST
Guwahati, June 15, 2019:
The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) on Friday announced that the repairing of the Saraighat rail-cum-road bridge (old) over the Brahmaputra river has nearly completed and is expecting to open the upper deck for the public by June 20.
The NFR stated that the bridge will be functional as scheduled earlier.
As per the official release, the work in the bridge has been progressing without any hurdles with the continuous cooperation of the people and civil administration.
Also Read: Repairs of Assam's Saraighat bridge at snail's pace, jam to continue for months
As many as 500 workers are working for the repair and the restoration work. Total of 54 slabs on the upper deck is being replaced and 11 expansion joints over the pillars are being replaced.
With due course of time, 54 slabs and 11 expansion joints were damaged. The methods involved in replacing these involve breaking down the concrete slabs and expansion joint slabs and removing the expansion joints. After replacement of these, 50 to 65-mm thick heavy-duty semi-dense bituminous concrete (SDBC) will be laid over the entire deck to facilitate vehicular movement.
It is to be mentioned that Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had also directed the NFR officials to complete the repairing work within June 20. He visited for the inspection of the bridge on April 29.
It may be recalled that the old Saraighat Bridge was closed in March 2019 for 90 days to carry out “massive” repair work.
Meanwhile, many a time the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kamrup district, Kamal Kumar Baishya said that at the speed at which the NFR is moving to repair the bridge. However, these developments have gained momentum and the NF Railway is confident to finish the work on time.