The work on the second bridge across the Pampa at Kozhencherry, which has been stalled for several months, is likely to resume soon.
According to officials, Kerala Road Fund Board (KRFB) has floated a tender for completion of the project at a cost of ₹20.58 crore. The project is being revived on the intervention of Health Minister and local MLA Veena George.
The bids are slated for verification later this month so as to resume the work by November. The acquisition of land for the project is in the final stages while the relocation of power cables by the Kerala State Electricity Boards at the project site is nearing completion, they said.
The new bridge, which comes parallel to the decades-old Kozhencherry bridge, is 344 metre long and will have a width of 7.5 metre. Coming up on five pillars, the structure also comprises four arches and 1.5-metre-wide pedestrian paths on both sides.
The road that connects to the upcoming bridge begins in front of Vandi Petta Junction along the one-way road from Kozhenchery and ends in front of the Thottapuzhassery panchayat office to join the Kozhanchery-Thiruvalla road.
The work on a parallel bridge at Kozhencherry, being established to ease the traffic congestion along the busy stretch, began in December 2018. It, however, ran into delays following back-to-back floods in the Pampa and the pandemic-induced lock downs.
The time frame for completing the project had expired about six months ago, following which the contractor approached the State government seeking an extension and revision of the cost estimate. The Kerala infrastructure Investment Fund Board, however, has decided to drop the contractor and hence approved a re-tendering of the work by the KRFB.
