Shillong, Dec 14: The sudden repairs on Umiam Bridge resulted in a massive traffic jam for hours on Wednesday. Many of the commuters were taken by surprise over the repairs as they were not aware of the same.
The ITC Cementation India Limited commenced repairs on the Umiam bridge on December 13, 2023, which has become vulnerable following heavy traffic for years and has long lived past its estimated expectancy. Similar repairs and restorations have been carried out to the past including to the Umiam Dam, to increase its life.
The repairs are being done on one side of the bridge at a time, requiring strict regulation of traffic. It involves drilling holes, cementing works, which restricted passing of heavy vehicles through the bridge. Given the traffic load on the Shillong – Guwahati Highway or the NH 6, many vehicles were later diverted to take the Umroi Bypass and travel via Umroi Airport-Umrynjah-VIP Road and vice versa.
Many vehicles, especially those coming from Guwahati, were distressed as they did not know the alternate route. Even those proceeding from Shillong towards Guwahati complained that the government had not announced about the repair works, as they sat for hours in their vehicles.
Meanwhile, the current repair work is expected to take around 4 months and will extend the life of the bridge by 25 years.
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