(Left) Vehicles crossing the temporary bailey bridge over the Chathe river, 4th Mile, Dimapur after it opened to traffic on Saturday evening. (Right) A view of the deck of the bridge.
Bridge opened to traffic from 6:30 pm Saturday
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 5
The long awaited temporary bridge over the Chathe River linking Dimapur to Niuland at 4th Mile was opened to vehicular traffic on May 5. The PWD (Roads & Bridges), Dimapur Division informed that it was formally declared open to traffic at 6:30 pm, Saturday.
A prayer programme was conducted by the Rev. Dr. P. Dozo at the site before it was opened to vehicles. Roads & Bridges Chief Engineer, Dimapur Division’s Executive Engineer were present and the village council of Naga United village were also present.
Small and medium vehicles, including pick-ups can ply over the single lane bailey bridge. “It can weather the monsoon rains,” said a department official. The official informed that the department will be writing to the district administration to requisition and stationing of Traffic police personnel for streamlining vehicular passage.
It was completed two weeks back but inclement weather delayed the laying of approach roads to the two ends of the bridge.
According to the department, it was constructed at a cost of Rs. 2.10cr and took three months to complete the main structure.
The go ahead from the state government to build a motorable bridge as an interim measure, till an RCC bridge comes up, reportedly came only in October 2017. The erstwhile single lane bailey bridge, constructed in the mid 1980s, collapsed in July 2017 claiming 4 lives.
Asked on the fate of the temporary bridge once the now under construction RCC-beam bridge gets commissioned, a department official said that it will be dismantled and put into service wherever required.
PWD Minister, Tongpang Ozukum during his inspection of road repair works and bridges in Dimapur on April 20 had said that the temporary bridge over the Chathe would become operational by the first week of May.
The RCC-beam bridge over the Chathe and the one over the Dhansiri at Kuda village have a completion date of April 2019. According to the department, work on the two new bridges started in October 2017 with a construction period of 18 months.
