Elephant Gate bridge to be completed by August: S Rly

CHENNAI: The much delayed construction of Elephant Gate bridge, deemed a crucial link between north Chennai and Chennai Central, will be completed by August end, sources at the Southern Railway said. Meanwhile, the issue echoed in the Parliament Thursday after Chennai Central MP Dayanidhi Maran drew attention of Union Railway Minister to the delay in the project.

Southern Railway (SR), which is executing the project in partnership with Greater Chennai Corporation on a 50:50 sharing basis, hopes to commence the crucial launching of the girders connecting the piers across the seven railway lines to and from Chennai Central in April. Commenced in 2019, the Elephant Gate Bridge has missed at least three previous deadlines.

Highly placed railway sources told DT Next that the project was delayed owing to lockdown and financial troubles of the contractor till February 2023. However, the Southern Railway has overcome technical challenges in executing the project due to its enormity, sources said. “It is a unique structure constructed over all seven - eight railway lines leading to and from Chennai Central. The girders must be launched over the lines. Whatever was planned for the girder launch earlier required blocking all six lines, which will affect train movement in other divisions, including long distance trains. So, we have reworked the launching plan,” the officer revealed.

“We have reworked the launching plan to only block one line for 35-40 days. But, we do not have cranes capable of lifting the mammoth girder. The company has completed manufacturing the girder in modular form. Right now, we are preparing the site for launching the girders,” he said.