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Ahmedabad, Oct 22 (IANS) The standing committee of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has approved a proposal worth Rs 21.55 crore to carry out critical maintenance work on three old bridges in the city: Gandhi Bridge, Sardar Bridge and Parikshitlal Majmudar Bridge.
The project involves raising 89 bridge spans – 38 on the Gandhi Bridge, 48 on the Sardar Bridge, and 3 on the Parikshitlal Majmudar Bridge – and replacing worn-out thermoplastic bearings to improve structural stability and safety.
The decision has been taken after the Gambhira bridge collapsed on July 9, following which the state government ordered a comprehensive inspection of all bridges across the city and ordered immediate repairs wherever necessary.
An AMC official said that since no active tender existed for this category of work, the scope of the existing Ellis Bridge contractor was expanded to include the three bridges.
At the same meeting the committee approved an increase in the Ellis Bridge restoration cost – from Rs 26.88 crore to Rs 42.90 crore – with an additional Rs 16 crore approved for the project.
According to officials, major strengthening work on Gandhi Bridge has already been completed, including installation of new steel plates and earthquake arresters with minimal traffic disruption. Similar bearing replacement and span-lifting operations.
Over the past five years, Gujarat has seen a disturbing sequence of bridge failures: the collapse of the century-old suspension bridge over the Machhu river in Morbi in 2022 killed at least 141 people. In December 2021, a slab of the under-construction Mumtapura flyover in Ahmedabad collapsed (no deaths).
In 2023, a newly constructed bridge over the Mindhola river in Tapi district collapsed (no casualties), a bridge in Surendranagar collapsed under a heavy dumper, injuring four people, and in October, the girders of an under-construction over-bridge near Palanpur collapsed, killing two. Recently, on 9 July 2025, the 40-year-old Gambhira bridge in Vadodara district collapsed, causing vehicles to fall into the Mahisagar river and resulting in the death of at least 19 people.
–IANS
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