Goemkarponn Desk
PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant today said that the second phase of New Zuari bridge is to be inaugurated on December 22.
“Second phase of New Zuari bridge is to be inaugurated on December 22. All 8 lanes of Zuari bridge will be opened before Christmas” said Sawant
He further said that architectural marvel of Goa is almost ready. 100% load testing of the Phase II of the Zuari Bridge is complete.
“The full fledged Zuari bridge shall reduce the travel time, and bring ease to the commuters. The bridge shall enhance the infrastructure and strengthen economic opportunities in Goa,” he added
As per information from Sources, Gadkari is scheduled to visit Goa around these dates, but the purpose of his visit is yet to be officially announced.
The first phase of the new bridge had been opened by Gadkari in December 2022.
Nearly Rs 1,500 crore was spent on building the bridge. When the second four-lane section of the bridge opens to traffic, it will be completely completed and should cut the travel time between North and South Goa by nearly half an hour.
The first four-lane section is currently closed in the other direction and only open for traffic going from South Goa to North Goa. The traffic flow on the stretch will be greatly enhanced by opening all eight lanes; it has already significantly improved since the opening of the four lanes.
Zuari cable stayed bridge has 8 (4+4) lanes with 27m wide dual carriageways and a centre median of 10.7m. Bridge deck is of composite structure (steel structure and concrete) with a temporary steel walkway connecting both sides of embankments and pylon foundation locations for construction logistics.
The bridge deck is fabricated at site using high tech robotic welding equipment. It is transported by barge into the river, where it is lifted and erected by lifting frames.
DBL has joined hands with a Ukraine based company, Mostobudivelnyi Zahin Limited (MBZ) with a 74% and 26% stake respectively, to construct the cable stay bridge.
MBZ has experience in construction of bridges including suspension bridge of 840 metres with a central span of 520 metres and is the technical partner to Dilip Buildcon Limited for this project. MBZ’s involvement is to support in design, technical matters and execution.
