Old Cauvery bridge closed for upkeep

TIRUCHY: The 63-year-old Cauvery bridge on Tiruchy-Chennai National Highway will be closed from Thursday for three months due to maintenance work, and the new Cauvery bridge has been converted to two-way traffic.

However, activists have claimed that the tenure for maintenance is too long in the stretch and charged that the notice of closure was too short.

The 465 km stretch of Chennai-Dindigul National Highway NH 38 (old No NH 45) has a 675 metre length high-level bridge across the Cauvery river in Tiruchy. The bridge was constructed between 1957 and 1963 and has served as the major connecting stretch on the NH 38.

When the new Cauvery bridge was constructed adjacent to the old one, the old bridge was converted into a one-way line, and it was used for vehicles going towards Chennai, while the new one was used for Tiruchy-bound vehicles.

Due to ageing, the bridge needed to be maintained, and so the officials from NHAI had announced the closure of the bridge for three months. Earlier it underwent maintenance in 2010.

The officials said that the bridge would be closed from 11 am on Thursday, and the new bridge would be converted into a two-way stretch.

Officials said that there are as many as 14 river piers in the old Cauvery bridge to support the concrete slabs. The maintenance has been undertaken at a rough estimation of Rs 10 crore, in which as many as 120 bearings connecting piers and slabs would be replaced, and 16 extension joints would undergo maintenance.

Meanwhile, the social activists charge that the Cauvery bridge is a very crucial stretch in the Tiruchy-Chennai NH, and the three-month duration for the maintenance is too long. They appealed that the NHAI complete the works as soon as possible, since the stretch had accident-prone spots too.

“The officials from NHAI should have done proper preparations and announced closure well in advance. It is a hasty announcement and an adequate number of police personnel should be deployed to monitor the movement properly,” said KC Neelamegam, Executive President, Theneer Organisation, Tiruchy.