The Valiazheekal bridge over Kayamkulam Kayal connecting Alappuzha and Kollam districts will be opened for traffic on March 10, Public Works Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas has said.
It will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at 11 a.m.
The bridge will connect Arattupuzha grama panchayat in Alappuzha and Alappad in Kollam district. Officials said that almost all the work had been completed. "The load test has been successfully completed. The installation of 125 LED lights on the bridge is going on. It will be completed by Saturday," said an official.
The bridge with 29 spans has been constructed at a cost of ₹146 crore. It has a length of 981 metres. The width of the bridge including footpaths is 13.20 metres.
A major attraction of the bridge is three bowstring arches in the middle, which will allow hassle-free movement of big fishing boats. It is the longest bowstring arch in South Asia.
The bridge running parallel to the sea and Kayamkulam Kayal will link the Azheekal and Valiazheekal fishing harbours. It will help reduce the distance between the two places by 28 kilometres along with putting them on the tourism map. The bridge has been designed to attract tourists. It offers a spectacular view of both the sea and lake from the middle. Like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco in the United States of America, the Valiazheekal bridge has been painted with the famous International Orange colour.
The foundation stone for the bridge was laid by the then Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala in February 2016. The majority of the works was carried out during the previous Left Democratic Front government’s term under Public Works Minister G. Sudhakaran.
The bridge has been constructed by the Uralungal Labour Contract Cooperative Society.
