Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) Director General (DG) Chaudhary Naseer Ahmed has said that work on double track bridge at Mareer Chowk would be completed till mid-November this year.
He also said that remaining work on the single track bridge which is operational for trains would be started after November 15 and completed by the end of February 2014.
He said, ‘The design of the project was approved by the Railway Department keeping in view the passage of trains through out the day from Mareer Chowk Railway Bridge.”
The DG said that the superstructure which will be installed in the tunnels will be made of steel and 80 percent it has already been fitted. He also said that the contractor is trying its best to complete the project within the stipulated time period, which is February 15, 2014. “Main work on the steel superstructure of the double track bridge has been completed. As per the vetted design of the Pakistan Railways the fabrication of steel superstructure is technically unique and complex,” he added. He also said that various sections of the structure were not available in the local market and were imported.
The project is being run by the National Logistics Cell (NLC) which have deployed heavy manpower and machinery working round the clock to complete the work on a fast-track basis. The cost of the project, which was previously an estimated Rs 430 million was increased to Rs 550 million following approval of a revised PC-I by the Provincial Development Working Party. Naseer Ahmed said that a change in the railway bridge’s design was the reason for the increased cost.
According to RDA Director Umar Farooq, both tunnels on Benazir Bhutto Road under the railway bridge were being widened to 65 feet to ease traffic congestion at the chowk. Earlier, its height was 13.5 feet compared to the present height of 17.6 feet, he added.
RDA’s consultant had proposed the construction of a 237-tonnes railway steel bridge which was modified to 480-tonnes following directives from the Railway authorities. “The entire work on the structure of double track bridge would be completed by upcoming mid-November,” he added.