The Mandovi Bridge is a bridge between towns Panaji and Porvorim, in Goa. It carries the NH 17 over the tidal part of the Mandovi River. The first and second bridge are multiple span beam bridges and the third is a cable-stayed bridge which is under construction. It has a total length of 3,771 metres.
Video Mandovi Bridge
History
The Mandovi bridge is one of the most famous bridge and longest bridge in Goa. Before the bridge was built, the ferry was the main mode of transport across River Mandovi well into the 1970s between Panaji and Betim village. Due to heavy traffic the first bridge was built in the 1970s. Later in 1986 the first bridge collapsed and was later rebuilt. The second bridge was constructed in 1998 in order to accommodate heavy transport vehicles. The third bridge is under construction which began in 2014. The reason for the third cable-stayed bridge is to accommodate heavy traffic especially during the peak year end tourist season. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) were awarded the EPC contract at a bid of INR 24.24 crore to build and design the third bridge.
Maps Mandovi Bridge
Construction
First and second bridge
The Mandovi River Bridge was Russian in design and the first to be used in this country. The first Mandovi bridge was built in the 1971 and the second one in 1998. On 5 July 1986 the first bridge collapsed. After the collapse, this project required the dismantling of the old bridge structure and strengthening with by filling M20 concrete. The total cost of construction was INR 2 crores. The parallel bridges have a length of 600 metres each. Both bridges carry one way traffic.
Third cable-stayed bridge
On 14 June 2014, the foundation stone for the third Mandovi bridge was laid by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The third bridge will be cable stayed bridge constructed between the first and second parallel bridges which will be spanning over 3 kilometers and would be 15 meters higher than the existing two bridges. The third bridge will be designed and constructed by Larsen & Toubro (L&T). The bridge will be a 900 m four lane bridge will be a 550 m cable stay portion and a 3.2 km viaduct approach. The main bridge is 600m in length with two end spans of 75m and three interior spans of 150m. The main bridge superstructure consists of 21m wide externally strutted segmented concrete box girder with dual carriageway of 2 x 8.5m with 3m wide median at the centre. The box girder will be supported by stay cables which will be anchored in the pylon and stressed from box girder bottom. Another flyover arising from the Merces-Old Goa bypass road will join the Mandovi bridge for traffic from Ponda to go towards Margao. The revised cost of construction of the particular bridge being built is INR 860 crore and the cost could increase by INR 50 crore.
Finance
During the laying of the foundation stone, Government of Goa claimed that the bridge would be funded independently. The loan agreement was signed on 8 June 2015 between National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the nodal agency granted a loan amount of INR 462.60 crore. The original cost of bridge was estimated to be INR 470 crore and has risen up to INR 860 crore. With a repayment period of 12 years. the government is supposed to pay an interest of 48 crores annually with regards to the Mandovi Bridge loan. The total amount to be repaid NABARD by the end of June 2027, therefore, stands at a figure of INR 866.44 crore. This bridge is set to be the most expensive bridge in Goan history.
Incidents
Collapse in 1986
On 5 July 1986, the first Mandovi bridge collapsed. The main reason for failure was determined to be corrosion of the pre-stressed cable that attached the precast concrete segments to the piers. Since the pre-stressed cable in most of the balanced cantilevers were corroded, the precast concrete segment of the superstructure were in a precarious condition and likely to fall by on account their own weight, hence river traffic below the bridge was not safe. The superstructure could not be repaired and the bridge had to be demolished and rebuilt. The debris of the bridge still remains in the river even after 30 years, it has seriously impacted the flow of the river.
Other incidents
On 26 December 2016, a worker died on the construction site after suffering from 90 percent burn injuries while working 8 meters the ground in a vertical tunnel of the under construction bridge pillar. On 30 December 2017, a fire broke out on an under construction pier supporting the cable-stayed bridge, however there were no casualties and the situation was brought under control.
Traffic
Mandovi Bridge is one of the most heavily used bridges in Goa. According GSIDC sources almost 66,000 vehicles travel over the Mandovi bridge everyday.
Criticism
Environmental issues
The construction of the third bridge was challenged by Goa Foundation alleging that it is being constructed without an Environment Clearance. It also challenged the destruction of some 247 mangrove trees for constructing ramps to access the bridge. According to the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation's Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report as requested by National Green Tribunal, the construction of third Mandovi bridge will destroy mangroves to a certain extent and also impact marine ecology. The EIA also stated that there will be no loss to flora and fauna and other vegetation. However the mangroves will be replaced at suitable sites identified by Forest Department and marine ecology will be restored as stated by the EIA.
See also
- Mandovi River
- Panaji
- List of bridges in India
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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