Sakleshpur: Dilapidated Hemavathi bridge poses safety hazard for vehicular traffic

Hassan: A bridge built across River Hemavathi, which connects Bengaluru-Mangaluru at Sakleshpur town is in a dilapidated condition and in need of urgent repairs.

The expansion joints of all the four pillars of the bridge are damaged and pose a safety hazard to the vehicular traffic, which also includes trucks transporting heavy machinery for the Yettinahole project here. While one joint is completely damaged, two others are twisted. Lack of maintenance has also caused the iron rods of the pillars to rust and few parts of the parapet walls of the bridge have collapsed.

A civil engineer informed that the expansion joints should be replaced once in 15 years.

Meanwhile, NHAI authorities have said that a new bridge will be built across the river but in the interim, they would conduct an inspection of the existing bridge and submit a proposal to the government.