Pandemic slows work on footbridges

Nearly six months on, three bridges still await completion

ISLAMABAD:

Three overhead pedestrian bridges being in Islamabad have faced delays, in part from the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) lockdown, with construction work yet to be completed nearly six months after work on them started.

In April, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had started work on constructing multiple overhead pedestrian bridges in the city. These include a bridge being built on the Srinagar Highway (previously named Kashmir Highway) near the Sunday Bazaar, Faisal Avenue on the Sector G-7/2 and Sector G-8 intersection near the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), and third bridge on Jinnah Avenue at the Mehran gate of the Sector F-9 Park opposite Sector G-9/2.

However, the bridges remain incomplete so far.

In a statement on Wednesday, the CDA said that civil work on constructing these bridges is being carried out swiftly while instructions have been issued to complete civil work at the earliest so that ‘erection work’ (installing steel support columns) on these bridges is started.

“In this context, 70% of civil work for pedestrian bridges being constructed on Faisal Avenue near Pims has been completed, while 60% and 50% civil work respectively for pedestrian bridges being constructed on Srinagar Highway and Jinnah Avenue has also been completed,” the statement read.

The authority added that it had tasked the Heavy Mechanical Complex (HMC) in Taxila with installing the pedestrian bridges as part of a project worth Rs135 million.

The HMC, the statement said, has completed construction of structures for the bridges. They will be transported to these sites soon after the completion of civil work.

The pedestrian bridge to be installed on the Srinagar Highway near the Sunday Bazaar will cost Rs51.94 million, the bridge on Jinnah Avenue will be constructed for Rs40.12 million while the bridge on Faisal Avenue will cost Rs42.93 million.

By contrast, a pedestrian bridge built on Constitution Avenue at Pak Secretariat was completed within a matter of eight weeks at a cost of Rs39 million.

The bridges are being built to reduce the number of traffic accidents apart from maintaining the flow of traffic in the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2020.