Date:08/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/08/stories/2008040855290100.htm

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Motorists suffer as bridge repair drags

Staff Reporter

TALE OF TWO BRIDGES: A bird’s eye view of the old (on the left) and new bridges across the Amaravathy in Karur.

KARUR: Repair of the damaged portion of the new bridge across the Amaravathy in Karur is dragging, forcing motorists and public to put up with circuitous travel and frequent traffic bottlenecks on the old bridge.

It was constructed under the “build, operate and transfer” model by the ECCI Limited which was also collecting toll from users.

Huge crack

Completed in late 2001, the bridge suffered extensive damage during the November 2005 flash floods in the Amaravathy when the approach road to the bridge from the Thirumanilayur side collapsed, creating a huge crack across the breadth of the bridge. After preliminary restoration was carried out, the bridge was thrown open to traffic but the repair works remained incomplete.

The Highways Department, in January, had announced that repair works would take at least one month during which traffic would remain suspended.

The one-month period has passed but there is no end in sight for the repair works that are being carried out day and night.