After a delay of nearly 10 years, the Northern Railway has finally started the construction of the rail bridge over river Yamuna that will replace the present “structurally unfit” 150-year-old Yamuna Bridge.
“We have floated the tender for the construction of the new bridge. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 137 crore,” said Neeraj Sharma, Chief PRO of the Northern Railway. He further said that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the National Monuments Authority have approved the project. The delay has forced the railways to continue the train operations on the “structurally unfit” old Yamuna Bridge.
The work on the new rail bridge over Yamuna started in August 2003 and was scheduled to be completed by June 2005. At the time, the estimated cost of the project was Rs 66.95 crore. The work got delayed and finally suspended in 2007, following objections raised by the ASI as the construction required demolition of a portion of the wall of the historic Salimgarh Fort. The ASI protected monument was built in 1546 by Islam Shah Suri, son of Sher Shah Suri.
“Initially, the estimated cost of the project was Rs 67 crore, which escalated to Rs 137 crore over the years,” Sharma said. Till now, the railways has spent Rs 43 crore on the project. The foundation of the bridge comprises 14 pillars, of which nine have already been constructed. “Piling for the remaining five pillars could not be taken to appropriate depth as it hit the rock bed in the Yamuna,” Sharma said.
In order to protect the fort, ASI directed the Northern Railway to change the alignment of the bridge. ASI then carried out a study of the new design and finally approved the project in December last year. “The project is now scheduled to be completed by 2018,” Sharma said.
