The Vaduthala overbridge will be ready for commissioning in the third quarter of 2026, if everything works out as per schedule.
The Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK), which was tasked with constructing the long-awaited bridge, floated tenders on Tuesday for the two-lane structure to be built on a design-and-build mode. Once the contract was awarded, the bridge ought to be built in 18 months, sources said.
Interested firms ought to submit bids in a month to build the structure.
The RBDCK would build the 12 spans and the approach portions of the overbridge, while the Railways would build the central span atop the railway lines. The bridge would considerably decongest the area, bringing relief to commuters, especially residents of Chittoor, Vaduthala and Pachalam, said T.J. Vinod, Ernakulam MLA.
A total of ₹48.51 crore was given as compensation to 62 landowners. The land acquisition process that began in 2021 could be completed after settling various issues that came in the way. On their part, the Railways reworked the design for the bridge, in keeping with their proposal to add more tracks in the Shoranur-Ernakulam rail corridor. The RBDCK has been instructed to inform the Railways once the tender process was over, Mr. Vinod said.
Sources said the RBDCK would vet the design that the contracting firm that won the bid readied to ensure that it adhered to norms. It is estimated that the number of vehicles passing through the bridge will stabilise when the Edappally-Muthakunnam stretch of NH 66 is widened as a six-lane stretch. The other bottlenecks in the region, including approach roads to the Pachalam overbridge, ought to be widened in order to ensure seamless flow of vehicles, they added.
The State government had given technical sanction for ₹20.49 crore for the bridge project, while the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) sanctioned funds to acquire land, whose extent increased from 42.92 ares to 60.15 ares owing to the change of design in keeping with the additional tracks planned in the Ernakulam-Shoranur rail corridor.
