Last segment of Goa’s Zuari bridge lifted, likely to be opened by November

The cable-stayed bridge is expected to ease the traffic on the existing two-lane bridge over the Zuari river that has been a traffic bottleneck for years.

Goa CM Pramod Sawant at the event held for the lifting of the final segment of the Zuari bridge Tuesday. (Express photo)

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant Tuesday performed a puja at the event held for the lifting of the final segment of the under-construction 640-metre Zuari cable-stayed bridge that is expected to be opened to vehicular traffic in November. The bridge is the second longest cable-stayed bridge in the country, Sawant announced on the occasion.

With the lifting of the last segment of the bridge over the Zuari river, the entire bridge was connected by Tuesday afternoon. At the ‘closure segment event’ held near Agassaim, Chief Minister Sawant said the bridge was constructed at a cost of Rs 1,436 crore and built in three phases, connected from Bambolim in North Goa to Verna junction in South Goa.

The eight-lane cable-stayed bridge, once opened, is expected to ease the traffic on the existing two-lane bridge over the Zuari river that has been a traffic bottleneck for years.

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“In the last 60 years (of Goa’s liberation) you may have seen development of different kinds, But you have been witness to the infrastructure development that has been done since 2014. It has been done by the double-engine sarkar,” Sawant said. He said that the Zuari cable-stayed bridge was the vision of Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The project was tendered by Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and the work order was bagged by Bhopal-based Dilip Buildcon Limited. The work was carried out with consultants from France, China, the Central Public Works Department and the state Public Works Department (PWD).

In November 2021, on a visit to Goa, Gadkari also announced that there was a proposal to construct a viewing gallery atop the under-construction cable-suspended Zuari bridge and make it a tourist attraction that, he said, would be more popular than the Eiffel Tower and said a revolving restaurant may also be constructed atop the tower.

Goa PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral said that it may have taken eight years to build but this would be an “iconic” bridge in Goa. He said that the proposal to build the revolving towers atop the bridge was not in the original plan but the PWD would soon issue a tender for its construction on a public-private partnership (PPP) model.

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