Old Maravoor Bridge Undergoing Major Repairs will be Open for Traffic in June 2023
Mangaluru: The new and old bridges built parallel across the River Phalguni in Maravoor will be open for vehicular movement in a month. Currently, the old bridge is closed down for road repair work, and vehicular movement is allowed only on the newly built bridge that was opened a few months ago.
Yashwanth Kumar, the Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, Mangaluru, speaking to Team Mangalorean said, “The old bridge that was built in 1969 has remained closed due to ongoing works. The newly constructed bridge parallel to the old bridge was opened for vehicular movement soon after its completion. The old bridge is fit for vehicular movement and has remained closed as of now due to ongoing road work. Once it is completed, we will open both the old and new bridges for vehicular movement, and the bridges will share the vehicular movement load. “Vehicles on the old bridge will move towards Mangaluru, whereas vehicles will ply towards Bajpe on the new bridge,” explained.
Traffic moving on the Newly Built Maravoor Bridge
” Though vehicular movement will be allowed on both bridges in a month, it will take another year to complete the work related to road repair and other pending works on the new bridge. The work cannot be progressed once the monsoon hits the region. Therefore, it will take another year to complete the pending work. We are planning to complete it by next March.” added Yashwanth
It is learnt that the PWD has also planned to undertake pier strengthening of the old bridge once the monsoon is over. Yashwanth further said, said ” We wanted to take up the work this summer but were unable to do so due to a shortage of funds. We will again invite the bridge experts and conduct a complete study on the strengthening of the bridge. The bridge gets another 25 or more years of life once it is strengthened. Each pier of the old bridge would be strengthened in a phased manner after the end of the next monsoon.”
Old Maravoor Bridge Getting a Major Repair Work
It can be recalled that the shortest route to Mangaluru International Airport was cut off after the old Maravoor bridge developed cracks and the number eight pier sank one foot into the riverbed on June 15, 2021. The bridge was closed for a month and a half for restoration.
