West Bengal: Indian Railways complain of not receiving information about opening of Majherhat Bridge

The Public Works Department wants to open Majherhat bridge before Durga puja for the convenience of people. However, the railway authorities complained that they did not know anything about the state's plans to build the Majherhat bridge over the Sealdah branch railway line.  

Kolkata: The Public Works Department wants to open Majherhat bridge before Durga puja for the convenience of people. The department is working day and night for the construction of bridge. However, the railway authorities complained that they did not know anything about the state's plans to build the bridge over the Sealdah branch railway line. Before starting the construction of the bridge, the authorities will have to check all the safety measures required for the construction.

Anil Kumar Dubey, principal chief engineer of Eastern Railway, wrote a letter to the secretary of the public works department on Tuesday (September 29) seeking information about the state's plan. According to the letter, the Railway Safety Commissioner gave permission to complete the work of the four-lane bridge on February 28 after seeing the design and construction details.

In order to partially open the bridge before Durga puja, several precautionary measures have to be taken for the safety of people. However, the railways claimed that it had not received any reply to the letter from the state till Wednesday (September 30) night.

A letter was sent to the state on August 26 with a message of cooperation from the railways to resolve various issues related to the construction of the bridge. There is a proposal for a video meeting one day a week to coordinate between railway and state officials. But the railways complained that there was no response from the state in this case. An official of Eastern Railway said, "If we know the plan of the state, the railways can also help in the work.”

Construction of the bridge has started in mid-May after the lockdown eased. The main part of the Majherhat bridge, which is about six hundred and fifty meters long, is being constructed with cable stud (hanging) technology. The middle 227 meter section will be on top of the hanging cable. There is a 100-meter-long railway under the bridge.

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A total of 84 steel cables on both sides will carry the weight of the main part of the bridge. So far, more than 40 cables have been installed. Public Works Department sources said that it may take another 12 days to lay the rest of the cable. The bridge under construction is capable of carrying a maximum load of 385 tons.

Although work has been going on day and night for the last few months, there is still work to be done on the crash barriers on both sides of the bridge and bitumen concrete on the deck. Public Works Department officials are hopeful that the work will be completed soon. Even after that, there will be a matter of checking it carrying capacity before opening the bridge.

The railways have said to install sensors on some instruments and bearings in the cable so that it can be monitored whether the bearing capacity of the bridge is under pressure or not. According to Public Works Department sources, the load of the four-wheeled vehicle is nothing compared to the carrying capacity of the bridge. As a result, if the bridge is opened for small vehicles before Durga puja, the pressure on the busy Diamond Harbor Road will be reduced.