Historic Victoria Bridge repaired

MANDI: The historic Victoria Bridge was today closed for nearly two hours for minor repairs

Updated At : 06:46 AM Sep 13, 2015 IST

The Victoria Bridge in Mandi. Photo: Jai Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mandi, September 11

The historic Victoria Bridge was today closed for nearly two hours for minor repairs. PWD workers carried out the repair work.

A wooden log and stones from a tower of the bridge came off yesterday. However, a motorcyclist escaped with minor injuries when the wooden log fell on him.

The bridge was constructed on the Beas river in 1877 AD by the Britishers during the reign of King Bijay Sen of the Mandi Estate.

The then British Chief Engineers of Punjab and Shimla hill states gave a durability period of 100 years to the bridge which had ended in 1977, said Laxmender Singh, president, Mandi Bachao Sangharsh Morcha.

He said it was unsafe to allow heavy vehicles on the bridge as the basement rocks of both the pillars had been disturbed due to the continuous flow of the river water for the past 138 years, he said and added that water had also eroded the rocks on the sides of the bridge. The bed level of the river had also gone down by five to seven meters due to continuous flow of the water, he said.The bridge was built in 1877. The Deputy Commissioner has sought fitness certificate of the bridge from the PWD.