Old Maravoor bridge to be dismantled to pave way for construction of new one

c

The bridge was closed for traffic from July 15, 2021, while the PWD lifted the sunken foundation and the girder by July 29 to open the bridge for traffic from July 30 that year. With the department constructing a new and wider bridge adjacent to the old one as part of four-laning the Airport Road, the old one was closed in April 2023 for a complete overhaul.

Though it was opened for traffic a few months later, the bridge was permanently closed for traffic in June 2024. Traffic between the City and the Airport and Bajpe/Kateel has been moving on the new bridge since then.

The old Maravoor Bridge across Phalguni (Gurupura) River on Airport Road was permanently closed for traffic from July 29, 2024 and traffic between the City and Airport/ Bajpe/ Kateel has been moving on the adjacent new bridge since then on Wednesday, February 4, in Mangaluru.
| Photo Credit:
H S MANJUNATH

One and a half years after the bridge was closed for traffic, the PWD has said that restoration and overhaul of the old bridge that was constructed in 1969 as a part of Mangalru-Athrady State Highway 67 is near impossible. Pier foundations as well as all the piers of the bridge have become weak, rendering it unusable. The granite masonry bridge with RCC piers has nine spans of 21-metre length with the total length of the bridge being about 200 metres. It had a 7.5 m wide carriageway.

₹40 crore proposal

Realising that restoration of the old bridge was impossible, the Mangaluru Division of PWD has sent a proposal to the government to dismantle the old structure and build a new one. The estimated cost is about ₹40 crore, which includes dismantling the old structure and shifting of the debris, an engineer told The Hindu.

Public Works Minister Satish Jarkholi and Dakshina Kannada district in-charge Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao have promised to get the proposal approved at the earliest, the engineer said, adding that the work might start after the monsoon.

The new bridge would come up at the same location as the old bridge. It would be similar to the newly-built bridge, which is about 200 metre in length and 12 metre in width.