NHAI opens bridge, flyover on Kangra-Shimla highway

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, June 16

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has completed the construction of a bridge on the Bathu river and opened it to traffic on the Shimla-Kangra four-lane highway. It has been built under Phase-5B package for the 18.3-km stretch between Kangra and Bhangwar Ranital.

This is one of the longest bridges on this section of the four-lane project. The NHAI has also opened traffic on the Ranital flyover on this part of the highway.

80% work on Rs 1,100 cr Phase completed

• Over 80% construction work of the Phase-5B package of the 18.3-km stretch between Kangra and Bhangwar Ranital of the Kangra-Shimla four-lane project has been completed.
• The construction of the twin tube tunnels between Daulatpur & Kangra is also in its final stage and likely to be opened for traffic before the end of 2024.
• With these tunnels, the distance between Daulatpur and Kangra town would be reduced by 7 km.
• The total cost of the Phase-5B package package has been estimated to be Rs 1,100 crore.

Till date, over 80 per cent construction work of this phase, including bridges on the Bathu river, has been completed. Another big bridge on the Baner river would be made operational in the next six months, claim officials.

The construction of this phase, which had been held up earlier for the want of forest and environment clearances and removal of infrastructure like transmission lines, was awarded to the Gawar Construction Company.

Grid-based technology

In view of the fragile hills of the state & repeated landslides on highways, the Kangra-Shimla project would be the first in the state to be constructed using grid-based technology. The first lane is constructed on a higher slope and second on a lower slope. This makes a grid of two separate roads running parallel on the hills. It saves hills from vertical cutting, reduces maintenance cost and provide a safe passage. — Project head

The Shimla-Kangra four-lane highway is one of the strategic road projects that will connect six districts of the state with Shimla.

Meanwhile, the construction of the twin tube tunnels between Daulatpur and Kangra is also in its final stage and likely to be opened for traffic before the end of 2024.

After the construction of these tunnels, the distance between Daulatpur and Kangra town would be reduced by seven km. The total cost of this package has been estimated to be Rs 1,100 crore.

Abdul Basit, state head of the NHAI, told The Tribune that the construction of small culverts on this phase had already been completed, while the construction of a flyover at the Tanda bypass was in progress.

Basit said the construction of the 225-km highway project between Kangra and Shimla had been divided into five packages. He added that the project was a priority for the NHAI.

The project head said, “Keeping in mind the fragile hills of the state and repeated landslides on highways, the Kangra-Shimla highway project would be the first in the state to be constructed using grid-based road technology.”

“This will reduce the maintenance cost and provide a safe passage. The grid-based technology saves hills from vertical cutting. The first lane is constructed on a higher slope and the second lane on a lower slope. This makes a grid of two separate roads running parallel on the hills,” the project head said.

A strategic road project, the four-lane project will connect six districts of the state with Shimla and bypass major traffic bottlenecks and towns like Jwalamukhi, Nadaun, Hamirpur, Ghumarwin, Ghagas, Darlaghat and Bilaspur to avoid the displacement of people. The 225-km four-lane project, when completed, would reduce the distance between Kangra and Shimla by 45 km.