Char Dham pilgrims to have easy access to Kedarnath

MUSSOORIE: Char Dham Yatra pilgrims will have an easy access to Kedarnath Dham this season as a bridge at Sonprayag that was washed away twice in the last three years has been replaced with a twoway acrow bridge

Updated At : 06:28 AM May 11, 2016 IST

The newly built two-way bridge at Sonprayag. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, May 10

Char Dham Yatra pilgrims will have an easy access to Kedarnath Dham this season as a bridge at Sonprayag that was washed away twice in the last three years, has been replaced with a two-way acrow bridge.

A team of engineers have succeeded in construction of the new generation emergency bridge, making access to and fro the Kedarnath shrine easy for pilgrims.

A US-based bridge company Acrow has constructed the bridge on the Mandakini between Sonprayag and Gaurikund in a record time of 30 days.

The road bridge at Sonprayag was critical to reach Gaurikund from where the final 16 km trek to Kedarnath begins. This bridge near the confluence of Mandakini and Songanga was washed away in 2013 and almost 10 m of deposits of silt and rubble changed the contours through which the rivers flowed. Restoration was prompt but temporary.

“The bridge had to be tucked away from rockslides and moved away from the confluence which meant preparing approaches by cutting into hard rock. The logistic exercise of transporting a bridge to Sonprayag 250 km from Rishikesh was no simple matter. With all these challenges, the deadline for the yatra this season had to be met,” said KK Kapila, Chairman, International Road Federation, and also the chairman of the infra project consultancy company, ICT.