Approach road damaged, Jawali bridge restored after two weeks

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, November 10

The Trilokpur bridge on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway (NH)-154 near Kotla in Jawali subdivision of Kangra district was opened to traffic this morning. It was closed on October 27 after suffering damage due to the ongoing excavation work for a new bridge adjoining it. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) after examining the condition of the bridge constructed a retaining wall below the damaged portion of its approach road.

As per information, a private construction company engaged by the NHAI for the Pathankot-Mandi highway widening project took 13 days to build the retaining wall to protect the damaged portion of the bridge. Bus passengers as well as commuters faced a lot of hardships due to the closure of the bridge. Long queues of vehicles stranded at Kotla and 32 Mile awaiting their turn to use the alternative 10-km Kotla-Soldha-32 Mile link road to reach their destinations led to traffic chaos on the highway.

According to Tushar Singh, Deputy Manager, NHAI, Palampur, the retaining wall (4 m wide and 17 m high) was constructed on a war-footing to protect the bridge approach road. “The NHAI did not bear any additional cost on the bridge restoration work. Bharat Construction company handling the road widening project has borne the additional cost,” he added.

He said that the company had deployed machinery to excavate the area for the foundation of a new bridge adjoining the existing Trilokpur bridge but suddenly the wing wall of the old bridge slid and as a result its approach road collapsed. He added that after opening the bridge, the NHAI was now securing the damaged site.