New Delhi: The Signature bridge, being built at Wazirabad in East Delhi at a cost of over Rs 1,100 crore, will miss the May 2014 deadline for its completion, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said Thursday.
After visiting the project site, Dikshit said the bridge, modelled on the London Bridge, would be ready only by December 2014.
The Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) is executing the project.
The erection of the central pylon of the bridge commenced today with Dikshit initiating the process. The pylon brought from China weighs approximately 14,000 tonnes.
"By the end of 2014, the bridge should have been opened to commuters. The bridge should have been ready by May 2014, but
I think it would now extend to December 2014," she said. Dikshit said the government also plans to develop the area around the bridge as a tourist spot.
"It (the bridge) will take at least one year for its
completion. The city is definately moving towards a world-class status through these projects," she added. Officials said erection of the pylon would be done using a 1,250-tonne capacity crane brought in by Sarens group, which will be using it for the first time in India for the purposes of bridge construction.
They said that the asymmetrical pylon blocks were brought to Gujarat via sea and transported to Delhi by road from Kandla port after travelling a distance of 1,640km.
The main bridge is 675m long and ansymmetrical. It has two approaches, the Eastern one, which is 1.8km long, to connect the main bridge with the marginal Bund road at the Khajuri Khas intersection.
It has a flyover and a ground level rotary at Khajuri Khas intersection and the western approach has a flyover on the outer ring road which covers the existing intersections at Timarpur, Nehru Vihar and Wazirabad, officials added.
The Comptroller and Auditor General had earlier this year raised serious questions about the use of pre-fabricated steel frames imported from China for construction of the bridge.
CAG had objected to procurement of steel frames from China in violation of contractual norms and said the Delhi government agency implementing the project did not have any mechanism to check the quality of material and fabrication work being done in China.
CAG also slammed Delhi government for escalation of the cost of the project.
The second consignment of the pylon has reached Kandla port and is on its way to Delhi. The third consignment is being shipped from Shanghai this month. The remaining two consignments will reach Delhi by the end of this year, officials added.
They further added that the inclined lifts were extraordinary and, after completion, visitors would be able to have a bird's eye view of Delhi from the top of the tower.
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