PANJIM: Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways have floated the first tender for the new six-lane Zuari bridge at an estimated cost of Rs 850 crore. Two more tenders are expected soon.
Confirming the tender Chief Engineer of Highways, Uttam Parsekar said the other two tenders are at the approval stage. The Central government earlier this year had sanctioned Rs 1100 crore for the bridge and the foundation stone is due to be laid by December 19 this year. The estimated cost of the entire project is around Rs 1500 crore.
The State has finalized a one-km-long alignment that will have a five-km-long flyover. The proposed bridge will be constructed over the existing Railway Bridge according to PWD officials.
The State government had also constituted a five-member expert panel comprising engineering agencies empanelled with Central and State governments, to study the bridge design, prepared by project consultant S N Bhobe, after
a bridge designed by the consultancy firm collapsed in Surat, Gujarat in June 2014.
The government in January had submitted the detailed project report (DPR) and alignment for the bridge to the office of Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. The government is planning to make the new Zuari bridge, a signature bridge, with unique design features to attract tourists, PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar had said.
There has been a demand for another bridge over the rive Zuari as the condition of the present bridge has been deteriorating progressively. Goa PWD’s report of 2009 mentioned dangerous cracks on the bridge and had suggested a new bridge within two years.
