Bridge Revamp: Work to soon begin on Rs 50k-cr project to overhaul British-era bridges, says Gadkari

New Delhi: The government will soon start work on about Rs 50,000-crore projects that include overhauling of British-era bridges and construction of road over-bridges and underpasses at unmanned railway crossings, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday. [caption id=“attachment_2652738” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Nitin Gadkari. AFP[/caption] “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,” said the Road Transport and Highways Minister Gadkari said while interacting with the media in Delhi. 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. The government is planning to use these pre-fabricated structures in metro, buildings of low-cost houses and states, he said. PTI