Delhi's Signature Bridge, a construction marvel with a futuristic glass facade, will ease up traffic congestion in the region.
The Signature Bridge in Delhi was supposed to be completed before the 2010 Commonwealth Games. A lot of delays and issues bogged the project down, but finally, it has been announced that the bridge shall be ready this October, reports the Financial Express.
This news comes after the Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal, along with Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, examined the bridge and were present when the final pylon was installed.
The bridge is an engineering behemoth, and here are eight facts to know about it.
1. The bridge will share the burden of traffic that the Wazirabad Bridge currently bears alone, as people travel to and from Delhi and Ghaziabad. Connecting the Outer Ring Road on the Western Bank, with the Wazirabad Road on the Eastern Bank of the Yamuna, the bridge will cut travel time by at least 30 minutes for commuters going towards the Ghaziabad and Bhopura Border.
2. The bridge is 675 metres long, 35.2 metres wide, and the bow-shaped steel pylon, is 154 metres tall, around double the height of the Qutub Minar. It is the first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge in India.
3. The Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation is carrying out the development of the bridge, and the government will develop businesses and tourism, around it, as part of the project.
4. Proposed in 2004, approved by the Delhi government in 2007, and with Deadline 1, set for 2010, the bridge is long overdue. The revised deadline, 2013, was again pushed to 2015 when the AAP-led government took over, and then, it was pushed to 2017. In July 2017, the Delhi government raised Rs 100 crore for the construction, and set a March 2018 deadline, before the October 5th deadline was finally set.
5. The project is expensive—the initial estimated cost was Rs 887 crore, which went up to Rs 1,131 crore in 2013, and now stands at Rs 1,575 crore. The Delhi High Court admonished the Public Works Department and Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (DTTDC), for squabbling over the construction amount, and has given them an ultimatum to ensure the project is over without a further increase in costs.
6. The bridge, as a project, has been divided into two packages. The first comprises eastern and western approaches, and the main cable-stayed bridge will be connected to the approaches. The construction components of the eastern approach has a 1.8 km long embankment, to link the main cable-stayed bridge, with the marginal bund road, at the Khajuri Khas intersection, in East Delhi.
7. The AAP government conducted an aerial survey and used drones to find a realignment for the signal-free corridor, to connect the bridge, to the DND flyaway, in South Delhi. This was the first-of-its-kind feasibility project, using drones.
8. The bridge is all set to unclog routes, like the one from Timarpur and ISBT to Khajuri Khas, and other routes between northeast and north Delhi.
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The Signature Bridge, with its futuristic look, courtesy a glass facade, with cables on both sides, might finally be on the way to completion, thus proving the adage—all good things come to those who wait.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)
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