The work of constructing the Dobra-Chanthi bridge appears to be progressing at a snail’s pace. According to officials the final drawing of the bridge will take about six months to be finalised. The Yooshin Engineering Corporation, Korea, which is the consultant company for this project is slated to submit its concept report regarding the bridge design to the State Government on December 15.
After this, the technical committee formed by the State administration will study the concept report and make its recommendations accordingly after which the corporation will prepare its final design of the bridge.
Following creation of the Tehri dam reservoir, the construction of the 440 metre long Dobra-Chanti bridge was started in 2006 to minimise the distance between Pratapnagar and the district headquarters. The construction of the bridge was slated to be completed in 2008 but after spending `130 crore only 320 metre RCC approach and towers of the bridge could be erected on both the sides.
The construction of the bridge is presently stalled as the wait for the bridge design drawing continues. Delay in construction of this bridge is causing major inconvenience to thousands of people living in Pratapnagar. Taking cognisance of the situation, the government made the Korean corporation the project management consultant for preparing the bridge drawing earlier in October.
The company engineers visited the Dobra-Chanthi project site, collected information from the executing agency Public Works Department and held meeting with officials on the project. After the consultant corporation submits its concept report to the State administration on December 15, a committee comprising the PWD chief engineer, Garhwal, chief engineer PWD head office and principal engineer will examine the report and accord approval for drafting the final design of the bridge.