Pamban road bridge develops crack

The Pamban road bridge across the Palk Strait, which links this island town with the main land, has developed a crack in the middle, prompting officials to regulate the traffic to one side of the bridge, NHAI officials said today.
Assistant Engineer of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Kannadasan claimed that the concrete packing the joints of the bridge had not been properly laid, leading to the development of the crack.
Repair work should be taken up immediately or the condition of the bridge would worsen as it was built in 1986, officials said.
The structure, built at a cost of Rs 16.65 crore and named after the late Congress leader Indira Gandhi was formally declared open by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on Oct 2 1988.

In 2013, the NHAI had sanctioned Rs 18.57 crore towards the renovation of the bridge constructed in the shape of an arch inorder to allow ships and boats to pass underneath it without any disturbance, they added.