Mangaluru: Engineers from the National Highways Division of the State Public Works Department informed the Udupi district administration that the two-lane parallel road overbridge (RoB) across the Mangaluru-Mumbai railway line at Indrali on National Highway 169 will be completed in about three months.

This was informed to Deputy Commissioner M. Kurma Rao, who chaired a meeting on widening NH 169A to four lane, between Malpe and Hebri in the district. The existing two-lane RoB near Indrali between Udupi and Manipal has become a bottleneck for smooth traffic flow, while the PWD has proposed a two-lane bowstring bridge parallel to the existing two-lane RoB.

Engineers told the DC that all necessary clearances and permissions from different agencies/ departments, including the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd., and others, were obtained for the ₹9.7 crore bridge erection.

A senior PWD Engineer told The Hindu that the bowstring bridge would be built using prefabricated galvanised steel, with the contractor already in the process of fabricating the structure in Hubballi.

While abutment work and piles erection for the bridge on both the ends were already completed, the balance work that has remained was to bring the prefabricated structure to the site and position it at the site. It may take a month to pull the steel structure across the 54m train carriageway at a rate of 5m every day. Thereafter a concrete road would be built atop the steel base, he added.

At any cost, the RoB would be ready before the commencement of the monsoon, he said.

Clear obstacles
Mr. Rao meanwhile told the engineers to clear all obstacles coming in the way of widening the highway to four lanes, including getting court stay orders on the widening work at Parkala stretch.

He said the government has already spent substantial amounts on the widening and if the works remain incomplete, they may get affected during the monsoon. Also, incomplete works would affect vehicular movement during the rains. Therefore, all obstacles should be cleared legally, he advised the engineers.

Mr. Rao told them to pay compensation to landowners on priority for their lands acquired for the widening and asked the Assistant Director of Land Records to rectify anomalies, if any, in land records immediately.

Superintendent of Police Akshay M Hakay, Kundapura Assistant Commissioner Rashmi, Municipal Commissioner Uday Shetty, PWD Assistant Executive Engineer Nagaraj Naik and others were present.