Will take at least 3 days for BRO to set up temporary bridge

Srinagar: The traffic department said on Tuesday that restoration work on the Srinagar-Jammu highway will take another ten days while a temporary Bailey bridge will be built over the next three days to facilitate traffic for the time being. The makeshift bridge will be built at Kela Morh near Jawahar Tunnel where the retaining wall of the existing bridge collapsed on Sunday evening.
The traffic on the highway has remained shut since Sunday evening. On Monday, the traffic department had announced that the restoration of the bridge will take at least five days. However, as the damage has been huge, the department extended its earlier time-frame of restoration to double, for up to ten days.
“Repairing by concrete filling and settling of the concrete for making it motorable may take approximately 10 days as per P.D NHAI (Road construction and maintaining agency),” the traffic police said.
On temporary basis, it said, a Bailey bridge will be put up by the BRO to restore connectivity on the highway. “The road leading from Jammu to Doda and Kishtwar, Jammu to Ramban, Mangerkot to Banihal, and Banihal to Qazigund stretches are open for traffic. People are requested to take their journey accordingly,” it said.
A BRO (Border Roads Organisation) official, working currently on the setting up of the Bailey bridge, told Kashmir Reader that they’ve completed the preliminary assessment of the semi-permanent bridge to be launched at exactly the same spot.
“We completed the preliminary assessment of the semi-permanent bridge on Tuesday, and also evaluated its feasibility at the particular spot of Kela Morh bridge, which has collapsed. Certain factors need to be examined and checked before the launching of Bailey bridge, and we’re into that with all of our professional team,” the BRO official said, requesting anonymity.
He added that it will take almost three days for the successful completion of the interim bridge and after proper inspection and check-up, the plying of traffic on the bridge will be decided accordingly.

KALEEM GEELANI