Stone laid for cable-stayed overbridge in Nagpur

Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar on Saturday laid the foundation stone for the ambitious Rs 60 crore cable stayed railway overbridge in the city, a first of its kind in central India and Maharashtra. Anil Deshmukh, state minister for PWD, was also present on the occasion.

The new bridge will replace the ageing Santra Market railway overbridge which connects the eastern and western parts of the city.

The bridge plan was first mooted by the Nagpur division of the Central Railway some years ago. A detailed plan was submitted to the state government for approval.

The present structure was constructed over a hundred years earlier by a British company. Interestingly, the company had earlier informed the Nagpur Municipal Corporation and the state government that its century-old contractual guarantee had expired.

The proposed bridge, being built under the aegis of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), will be constructed by Mumbai-based M Affcons Infrastructure Pvt Ltd. The work is expected to be completed in 42 months.

Deshmukh said there would be two separate cable-stayed bridges, each with three road lanes and a footpath. There are 20 railway lines below the overbridge, a stone's throw away from the Nagpur railway station.

Deshmukh said the bridge has been so designed that there would be no hindrance to train or road traffic during the construction. The minister said that a cable-stayed bridge will require lesser land for erecting pylons on which the entire load of the structure would rest.

"The bridge is also being designed taking into account the nature of seismic activity in the region," he said.

The central pylons will rise up to 61 metres and the total length of bridge will be 198 metres. The approach road will be 400 metres long. The bridge will be 24 metre wide and also have a footpath. An underpass has also been proposed. The existing bridge will be demolished using latest engineering techniques.