Old Cauvery bridge on Trichy-Chennai NH to be closed for 3 months; residents kept in the dark

Trichy: National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will close the old Cauvery bridge near Odathurai on Trichy - Chennai national highway from Thursday (June 25) for three months to take up routine maintenance work on the bridge after 16 years.

However, residents questioned the NHAI stating that the announcement came too late and closing the bridge for three months will intensify traffic congestion.Meanwhile, the closure of the bridge is expected to increase travel time between Chennai-Trichy-Madurai significantly during the weekends and holidays for the next three months.Recently, a team from IIT-Madras inspected the bridge completed in 1963.

Experts suggested the concessionaire maintaining a portion of NH replace 120 bearings and 16 strip seal expansion joints on the 675m-long bridge.The redevelopment work is likely to cost Rs10 crore. Both incoming and outgoing vehicles will be diverted to use the adjacent Cauvery bridge.“Three months is too long, as the NH links Madurai and Trichy with Chennai. Advanced machinery and more workers must be engaged to complete the work quickly. Locals should have been informed about the traffic diversion at least a week ahead for better reach,” K C Neelamegram, a resident of Ponmalaipatti said.Authorities added that pavements on both sides of the bridge will be strengthened too. “We will complete the work on a war footing,” an official source said.