Hyderabad: Govt to check stability of River Musi’s bridges

This is after consultants were invited for preparing an aggregate master plan for the project. The master plan is being prepared for a site area covering 55 km of the River Musi.

Hyderabad: The stability of about 17 bridges across the historic River Musi will be studied soon.
With the State government deciding to take up the River Musi Front Development project, measures are being initiated to study the stability of the decades-old bridges constructed across the river, besides marking the buffer zone along the riverbank.

This is after consultants were invited for preparing an aggregate master plan for the project. The master plan is being prepared for a site area covering 55 km of the River Musi. This excludes the one km influence zone on either side totalling to an area of 110 square km.

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To study the structural stability of 17 bridges built at different locations, the Musi River Front Development Corporation (MRDCL) is roping in agencies.

Most of these bridges were constructed decades ago. Though the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation had conducted a structural stability study of a few bridges about 10 years back, there was a need to check different components, especially the stability and safety of the structures, an official said.
For instance, the Puranapul Bridge was constructed in 1578 and had withstood the 1908 floods in River Musi. The State government was now planning to execute different works, including beautification and tourism promotion. Before executing such works, a detailed study had to be conducted about all these bridges, the official said.

Agencies would have to check different aspects like diaphragms, girders scaffolding, piers etc and submit a detailed report in two months. Based on their recommendations, higher authorities would take a call on the repairs and strengthening measures on the bridges, the official added.

Apart from taking up the structural stability study, the MRDCL is also focusing on marking the buffer zone along the river. This was basically to earmark the zones and execute development plans accordingly. This exercise would be taken up using Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) with the available data on the river boundary and buffer.