After missing multiple deadlines to commission the new six-lane bridge at Kulur during the last three years, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is hopeful of completing the project before the onset of 2026 monsoon.
The Authority has planned the new bridge across Phalguni (Gurupura) River on Kanniyakumari-Panvel National Highway 66 as a part of widening of the B.C. Road-Surathkal Port Connectivity Road into six lane. The work was awarded to Pune-based M/s Shinde Developers Pvt. Ltd., at a cost of ₹56 crore and the actual work commenced on April 12, 2021. Though the new bridge was expected to be completed by October 2022, the project was delayed for over three years.
The Old Kulur Bridge commissioned in 1952 by the then State of Madras is in an almost dilapidated state and the NHAI had recommended to the district administration to close the same for traffic in 2019 itself. However, with no alternative available and the completion of the new six-lane bridge getting delayed, the old bow-string bridge continues to be in service for traffic from Udupi towards Mangaluru, thereby exposing users to danger.
NHAI Mangaluru Project Director Abudlla Javed Azmi told The Hindu that pier cap for all the piers, but for one, was complete and the pending cap would be completed within a few days.
Casting of girders was underway at the contractor’s facility in Panambur with about 60 girders ready for launch. The Authority was hopeful of commissioning the new bridge before the onset of monsoon in 2026, the officer said.
The structure would be 42-metre wide in total with provision for service roads on both the sides and two main carriageways of two lanes, each of 7-metre width. Along the service roads, provision would be made for pedestrian path also, Mr. Azmi said.
Once the new six-lane bridge is commissioned, the NHAI will shut the old bridge for vehicular traffic. Utility lines, including water and power, presently passing on the existing bridge, would be shifted on the closed bridge, he added.
Curated by Shiv Shakti Mishra
