Kali bridge among the best in the country

KARWAR: Japan International Consultancy Associates, a Japanese agency nominated by the Central government to assess the condition of the bridges along the National Highways in the country, has certified that the Kali bridge, which provides a vital link between Karnataka and Goa, is one of the best bridges in the country and safe in all respects, executive engineer of National Highway (NH) department told Express here on Thursday.The gaps between cantilever arms of the bridge, which was built by Gaman India Limited in 1983, were a little wider and whenever a heavy vehicle crossed the bridge, there used to be a lot of vibration on the surface of the bridge. The NH department initiated the repair of the bridge in the year 2000 without disturbing the movement of the vehicles and completed the repair in the year 2005. However, in January 2010, the bridge developed a technical snag and it experienced heavy vibration during vehicular movement. At this stage, the department proposed to replace the hinge bearings laid between the gaps of cantilever arms of the bridges by, closing the bridge for vehicular movement. But since the bearings were embedded, they could not be removed. Later, the department decided to lay Gillette plates between the gaps to make it withstand the heavy weight of the vehicles. Navale said that the plates were being monitored and there is no problem now. He added, the bridge was built on a Japanese model. The Japanese expert team which inspected the bridge had declared that it is safe.He said, a new bridge will be built by the National Highway Authority parallel to the existing bridge, when the highway will be converted into a four lane road. After the construction of the new bridge, the present bridge will undergo major repair, in which the bearings would be replaced.