4th Tawi bridge safe: Naeem Akhtar

After suffering some damages over three years ago due to floods, the fourth Tawi bridge, connecting Bhagwati Nagar with Bikram chowk here, is safe, Jammu and Kashmir public works minister Naeem Akhtar said.
However, he directed the PWD department to engage a reputed bridge consultant for conducting safety audit and designing protection works after the work on the Tawi barrage is completed.
A portion of the approach road and embankment of the bridge on the Tawi was washed away after heavy floods in the river during September 2014.
The bridge had remained closed for a month and it was thrown open for traffic only after temporary repair of the damaged portion.

Akhtar yesterday chaired a meeting to review the steps taken by the department for strengthening the structure of the bridge and restoration of approaches that were damaged during the floods, an official spokesman said today.
Dispelling apprehensions about the safety of the bridge, which was constructed in 2013, the minister assured the public that the "bridge is safe and the department is stabilising the minor damages" caused due to floods.

He instructed for getting the hydraulic model study of the bridge be done by a pioneer institution for overall bridge structure and work in consultation with design, inspection and quality control (DIQC) department for taking appropriate measures on the technical aspect of the works.

Consequent to the damages, the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had ordered an inquiry into the construction of the structure.
The final report presented by the technical committee was also discussed in the meeting, the spokesman said.
The department has taken up the stabilising and restoration works on both the approaches of the bridge and the works on vulnerable spots on the barrage have been started and would be completed soon, the spokesman added.