Heritage body to go by the book,retain old look for 100-yr-old bridge

Since April this year,when the inner walls of the bridge first gave in due to abrasion with heavy vehicles plying underneath it on the Outer Ring Road,the ASI had taken up the issue with the PWD and Traffic Police. But failing to reach any conclusive and long term solution,the ASI resorted to repairing the inner walls — a solution that the heritage body felt would not be long-term.

“The level of the road has been increasing constantly due to regular repaving of the road beneath it. As a result,heavy vehicles plying under the bridge scrape its inner walls. Several rounds of discussion were held with PWD officials and the Traffic Police,but no viable solution could be found,” said a senior ASI official. Several design options were also explored in the meantime and suggestions like caging the inner arch to avoid abrasion and use of iron plates to strengthen the structure were made.

Earlier this year,the ASI was planning to reconstruct the damaged portions and then look at a long-term solution. During the discussions it was also considered that pulling down the bridge and reconstructing it completely at a raised height might be the best possible solution. But the idea was shot down considering that authentic building material may not be available. ASI officials told Newsline that a plan was approved last week,according to which just the damaged portions of the bridge will be repaired.

“Details of the restoration are now being worked out and the target for the completion of the work is two months. A new consultant has been appointed to strengthen the bridge. Though this might not be a long term solution as heavy vehicles plying under the bridge might continue scraping it,there was no cooperation from the other agencies involved,” the official said.

“Ideally,the level of the road should have been lowered and this would have been the most viable option but the PWD didn’t agree with us on this. According to the PWD,the bridge is on Ring Road,a major artery which connects UP and Haryana with East Delhi.”