1st cable-stayed J-K bridge to be completed ahead of deadline

"The way work is going on at pace, it is expected that bridge (cable-stayed) will be completed six months before the date of completion. The deadline is September 2014," BRO Director General, Lt Gen Ravi Shanker told reporters here.

Shanker today inspected ongoing work on the 592-metre bridge with steel cables supporting the bridge deck which is being constructed on River Ravi at Basholi belt of Jammu and Kashmir.

After the civil work, cable has been laid and testing is going on, he said, adding, quality control checks are being conducted.

The BRO official said that the 592-metre bridge is being constructed at a cost of Rs 145 crore. Supported by steel cables, it will have a tower height of about 88 metre above deck level with 1.5 metre wide footpaths on both sides.

The bridge is an important link in the state to connect Doda-Kishtwar region and Badwerah tourist resort as alternative route to National Highway NH-1A and to the Kashmir Valley via Basholi, Bani, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Chhatroo and Anantnag, Shanker said.

The contract for the construction of the bridge has been awarded to IRCON-SPS Construction Pvt Ltd, he said.

The proposed bridge is going to be a technological marvel and it will be on the lines of the Second Hoogly bridge in Kolkata, Naini Bridge in Allahabad and the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link in Mumbai, he said.

Linking Jammu and Kashmir with Punjab and Himachal Pradesh with thrust on the tourism, UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi had laid foundation stone of the bridge in Kathua on May 23 last year, he said.

The bridge will open up avenues for commercial mining of materials like gypsum and lime stone in Doda-Kishtwar belt, he said.