Bailey bridge open to traffic, but not for heavy vehicles

KOLLAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday opened Bailey bridge, a portable structure of the Army enabling reconstruction of the existing bridge at Enath in Adoor. Army’s Secunderabad regiment erected the 54.50-metre bridge having a carrying capacity of 18 tonnes in a width of 3.20 metres in a mere 48 hours. The PWD had constructed two 5 x 5-metre abutments with a height of 75 metres on both sides to support the structure.

The parts of the bridge were brought to the site in 17 trucks, and 50 army men worked round the clock to set it across the Kallada river. It also has a pedestrian passage. The vehicular traffic on the Enath bridge along the MC Road has been banned indefinitely after an expert team found severe damages in one of its pillars on January 10. The bridge connects the districts Kollam and Pathanamthitta along the MC Road.

Detour still applies for buses, trucks

Even as the Bailey bridge is open, after three months of Enath bridge's closure on MC Road, it will be of little help for the public transport and goods carriers. These vehicles will have to take a detour spending nearly an extra hour to continue. Meanwhile, the maintenance work of the closed bridge is progressing at a slow pace. The Bailey bridge permits only light vehicles and ambulances, that too with a maximum speed of 15 kilometres per hour. Apart from this, the bridge can allow only one-way traffic.

The heavy vehicles including long-haul buses continue to spend more money and time, as their running time has been increased to nearly an hour taking the parallel road. The vehicles heading towards Adoor side of the MC road from Kottarakkara should take a diversion at Kottarakkara via Puthoor and Arattupuzha to reach Enath. Meanwhile, the vehicles from Adoor should take a turn towards Kadambanad, Nediyavila and Puthoor, to reach Kottarakkara.