The new bridge across River Tungabhadra, connecting Raichur and Mantralayam in Andhra Pradesh will be thrown open for light vehicles like two-wheelers and cars by the Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) on August 3.
Officials of KRDCL said this would help devotees visiting the Raghavendraswamy Mutt for the annual aradhana celebrations in the first week of August.
Heavy vehicles can ply from August 15 on the state-of-the-art steel super structure built with German knowhow. The old bridge had been washed away in the floods that hit the region in October 2009.
Work on the bridge is almost over, KRDCL officials said. It is the first steel bridge constructed in the State. The bridge, which is 600 m long and 12 m wide, is a key link between Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
While the steel structure is in place, work to lay cement slabs is underway.
Six of the total 15 cement slabs have been laid and the rest will be in place in the next five to six days. The curing process will take another 15 days and will be over by July 31.
In 2010, the State government had awarded the contract of the bridge construction project to Hyderabad-based GVR Infrastructure Company.
But technical glitches, high water level in the river in the rainy season and administrative reasons had delayed the work.
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