Normal traffic restored after temporary repairs to collapsed Thanjavur bridge

TIRUCHY: The low-level bridge that collapsed at East Coast Road (ECR) in Thanjavur was repaired for temporary restoration of transport movement, easing hassles of going around 20km due to diversion.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials said the temporary arrangement was made with premixed concrete and blue metals.

Since the bridge collapse at Puthu Theru near Sethubavachatram in Thanjavur affected the traffic in the Kanniyakumari-Chennai ECR , forcing vehicles to take a detour, the NHAI officials who visited the spot on Wednesday evening swung into action and made temporary arrangements by filling with premix concrete to ease traffic movement.

Officials said that since the monsoon season is over, water flow beneath the bridge would be minimised and the temporary arrangement could help the vehicle users to avoid additional distance.

NHAI also said this was only a temporary arrangement, and a permanent solution with the precast concrete road slabs would commence soon.

From Thursday morning, the traffic was allowed on the bridge on a trial basis and was personally monitored by the officials. After ensuring there was no issue, the regular traffic resumed thereafter.