Kolkata: A hurdle for the Rs 350 crore Tallah bridge reconstruction project is finally being cleared with Eastern Railway (ER) starting to shift its quarters that fell on the alignment of the ramp to link the new bridge with Cossipore Road.
The north Kolkata lifeline is a road overbridge (ROB) under the ER’s ambit. The old bridge, which was a crucial link between Kolkata and the northern fringes, was pulled down last year because it had worn out beyond repair.
Construction work for the ramp, as part of the new ROB, has been stuck for the last few months because of the 38 railway quarters that came in its way. ER officials said 12 families have been relocated in various railway quarters in the Chitpur area.
“By November 15, the rest will be moved out and the entire staff quarters vacated for PWD to start its construction work,” an ER official said. The state public works department (PWD) is the implementing agency of the ROB reconstruction project. PWD needs the site to build a wider and longer ramp to connect Cossipore Road with the upcoming Tallah bridge for smooth movement of vehicles from Shyambazar to Dunlop.
A narrow arm of the old Tallah bridge was used for movement of goods vehicles from Shyambazar to the Chitpur railway yard. Each time a loaded truck rolled along the two-lane structure, cars and buses on the old bridge came to a standstill. The new Tallah bridge, now in its last leg of construction, will address this crucial issue.
A 240-metre section of the 750 m new bridge will stand over the Tallah tracks in the ER zone. ER needs the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) to give its approval to the crucial girder-launching across the railway tracks because the latter is the autonomous body under the ministry of civil aviation that must clear any new railway project across India. Since ER’s chief bridge engineer has already passed the design and drawings relating to the girder launching, PWD was expecting the girder-launching to start this month.
Meanwhile, the agency is also in a hurry to complete the ramp. On October 8, PWD’s principal secretary, Onkar Singh Meena, and his department engineers met railway officials to facilitate shifting of the railway quarter occupants. The latter promised to complete the job in November to allow PWD to start the ramp construction by mid-December. “On September 15, we released Rs 11crore to ER for the staff quarter rehabilitation. Now that it has started, all hurdles for the project have been cleared,” a senior PWD official said.
The new 9-m ramp will have a divided carriageway. Its construction will be done simultaneously with that of the main Tallah bridge, which is now chasing a May 2022 commissioning, officials said. “The CRS’s nod and subsequent launching of girders on the portion above the railway tracks should have started this month,” a PWD engineer said. “Post the girder-launching, the new bridge should take another seven months to be completed,” he added.
The north Kolkata lifeline is a road overbridge (ROB) under the ER’s ambit. The old bridge, which was a crucial link between Kolkata and the northern fringes, was pulled down last year because it had worn out beyond repair.
Construction work for the ramp, as part of the new ROB, has been stuck for the last few months because of the 38 railway quarters that came in its way. ER officials said 12 families have been relocated in various railway quarters in the Chitpur area.
“By November 15, the rest will be moved out and the entire staff quarters vacated for PWD to start its construction work,” an ER official said. The state public works department (PWD) is the implementing agency of the ROB reconstruction project. PWD needs the site to build a wider and longer ramp to connect Cossipore Road with the upcoming Tallah bridge for smooth movement of vehicles from Shyambazar to Dunlop.
A narrow arm of the old Tallah bridge was used for movement of goods vehicles from Shyambazar to the Chitpur railway yard. Each time a loaded truck rolled along the two-lane structure, cars and buses on the old bridge came to a standstill. The new Tallah bridge, now in its last leg of construction, will address this crucial issue.
A 240-metre section of the 750 m new bridge will stand over the Tallah tracks in the ER zone. ER needs the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) to give its approval to the crucial girder-launching across the railway tracks because the latter is the autonomous body under the ministry of civil aviation that must clear any new railway project across India. Since ER’s chief bridge engineer has already passed the design and drawings relating to the girder launching, PWD was expecting the girder-launching to start this month.
Meanwhile, the agency is also in a hurry to complete the ramp. On October 8, PWD’s principal secretary, Onkar Singh Meena, and his department engineers met railway officials to facilitate shifting of the railway quarter occupants. The latter promised to complete the job in November to allow PWD to start the ramp construction by mid-December. “On September 15, we released Rs 11crore to ER for the staff quarter rehabilitation. Now that it has started, all hurdles for the project have been cleared,” a senior PWD official said.
The new 9-m ramp will have a divided carriageway. Its construction will be done simultaneously with that of the main Tallah bridge, which is now chasing a May 2022 commissioning, officials said. “The CRS’s nod and subsequent launching of girders on the portion above the railway tracks should have started this month,” a PWD engineer said. “Post the girder-launching, the new bridge should take another seven months to be completed,” he added.
Leave a Comment