Mumatpura flyover ‘ready’ after final load test, PM to inaugurate today

A portion of the 853-metre-long flyover, built to ease traffic on the Sardar Patel Ring Road in Ahmedabad, had collapsed on December 21, 2021. “The bridge collapsed when the stressing was being done on one of the two obligatory spans of 48 metres each in 2021,” said Patel.

The construction, undertaken by Ranjit Buildcon Private Limited, was stalled after the incident. It was the third such accident involving a structure built by Ranjit Buildcon Pvt Ltd. However, after 15 months, the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA), “in public interest”, awarded the contract to rebuild the collapsed obligatory span to the same company as there were no takers for the national tenders floated twice in 2022.

According to Patel, about Rs 58 crore was spent by AUDA until the collapse of the span. The reconstruction required only about an additional Rs 2 crore. “The charge was again given to Ranjit on the condition that the cost of the reconstruction of this span would be incurred by the company,” added Patel.

The construction of the bridge has now been completed after the rebuilding of the collapsed span and conducting five successful load tests between January and May this year. “The tender for the bridge was passed in March 2019 for Rs 60.91 crore,” Patel said.

The flyover, according to Patel, was planned to solve the issue of frequent traffic jams on Sardar Patel Ring Road at Mumatpura junction due to traffic from Saurashtra and Kutch towards North Gujarat as well as the local traffic. “Three-layer junction developments — flyover on Sardar Patel Ring Road, underpass on VIP Road and Rotary on ground level — were planned at Mumatpura junction. As a part of this project, the work of the flyover bridge has been completed,” added Patel.

It is estimated that an average of 40,000 vehicles, including motor cars, light motor vehicles, trucks and multi‐axle vehicles, will travel through this bridge every day.