NEW DELHI, Mar 2:
The Government will soon start work on about Rs 50,000-crore projects that include overhauling of British-era bridges and construction of road overbridges and underpasses at unmanned railway crossings, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari today said.
“There are about 1,500 dilapidated bridges across the nation that date back to the pre-Independence era. We are going to construct these with new technologies at an estimated Rs 30,000 crore,” Road Transport and Highways Minister Gadkari said while interacting with the media here. That apart, under the Government’s Setu Bharatam project, which will be launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, 208 road overbridges (ROB) and underpasses will be come up in the first phase at an estimated cost of Rs 10,200 crore.
Tender for 62 such ROBs and underpasses have already been received, he said. Besides, Rs 5,500-crore projects are in the pipeline for West Bengal under the Setu Bharatam project, and a four-lane bridge has been proposed on the Ganga, besides 22 ROBs and underpasses.
According to Gadkari, the bridge construction code is also being modernised with international specifications and pre-cast technology, and 25 pre-cast fabrication industrial zones are on the anvil for construction of such bridges.
Such bridges will lead to cost savings to the tune of 30 per cent and subsequent quality improvement. (PTI)
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