Feasibility study on new Pamban road bridges begins

The company, working for National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), placed a borewell machine in the sea and collected samples present at depth of 70 feet below the sea. 

The team would collect the water, soil and the rock samples in the sea to analyse the salt content in the sea, the nature of the soil and the rocks present in the sea. 

Based on the nature of the materials, the company would recommend a set of chemical composition suitable for mixing with the cement and the thickness of iron and steel to be used in the construction of the new bridges. 

Officials at Revenue Department in Ramanathapuram said that the private company would give its report in three months to NHAI and then NHAI would decide on the construction of the bridge. Three teams are in work and among them two teams are involved in collecting samples in the shore while one of the teams is involved in taking samples off the shore.

The officials also said that the entire stretch of 80 kilometre road between Ramanathapuram and Dhanushkodi will be made four-lane and as part of the route two new bridges in Pamban had been planned at the cost of Rs 1,250 crore. The road bridges would be constructed on the southern side of the existing bridges as the Railway bridge runs in the northern side of the sea. 

Speaking about the existing bridge, the officials said that the existing road bridge is 30 years old and has few problems with the metals. So, the central government decided to go for two new bridges, said the officials. 

The existing Pamban road bridge, stretching 2.3 kilometres, was inaugurated by former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, on October 2, 1988, and was named Annai Indira Gandhi Bridge.