National Highways Authority of India’s pleas to close down the dilapidated old arch bridge across the Phalguni on National Highway 66 at Kulur that takes traffic from Udupi-side towards Mangaluru for safety reasons are yet to be heeded by the Dakshina Kannada district administration.
The arch bridge constructed in 1952 has outlived its existence, NHAI had told the administration in a series of letters. Consultants hired by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to examine the bridge’s stability have said that various components of the bridge have either become weak or corroded thereby rendering it unsafe.
At the present condition, the bridge can take up to 30 tonnes of load with vehicular speeds restricted to 15-20 kmph and there is no scope for its further repair, the consultant said. As such, it proposed re-construction of the bridge. Stating that Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel had sought its reconstruction because of the poor condition, NHAI told the administration that a detailed project report for construction of a new six-lane bridge between the two existing bridges is almost ready.
