Bringing down Pachpaoli bridge to be a big challenge

Nagpur: The over 1km-long Pachpaoli bridge, built in the early 1990s, will have to be demolished to pave way for the proposed nearly 9km-long Indora-Dighori flyover, which would link North and South Nagpur once completed.
Having a length of 8.9km, the flyover would be connecting two ends of the city and expected to reduce the time of travel. The cost has been estimated at over ₹790 crore. The flyover to be built will have a width of 12 metres and that of the existing Pachpaoli bridge is around half of that.

Stone laying for the proposed flyover, to be built by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), was done by Union transport minister and city MP Nitin Gadkari earlier this month.
Bringing down the Pachpaoli bridge is expected to be a tough and challenging task due to its location in the midst of a congested locality, with a busy road below it.
The demolition will have to be done with surgical precision so as to not damage the structures on the sides of it, say sources.
The Pachpaoli bridge that was built over three decades ago did not meet the required standards. Earlier, flyover at Chhatrapati Nagar was demolished to make way for a new one. The existing flyover in front of railway station is also slated to be demolished soon, though the schedule has not been fixed yet.
Sources involved in the implementation of the Indora-Dighori project said demolition will have its own challenges. Unlike the Chhatrapati Square flyover, the Pachpaoli bridge is located in a densely-populated area.
There are houses which are in close proximity of the bridge. It will have to be ensured that the buildings on the sides are not damaged. There is a railway track also which means even the railways will have to be kept in the loop for carrying out the job.
Experts say even controlled explosion method may have to be ruled out as homes nearby may get damaged in the process. Thus the bridge may have to be brought down physically using machines, said a source.
The contracting agency for implementing the project has been finalized and an agreement is due to be signed.
It is up to the contractor to plan the schedule, whether the demolition can happen first or at a later stage, the source said.