Army to hand over footbridge near Nehru stadium soon

NEW DELHI - Around 600 combat engineers of the Indian Army, working on war footing for a little over four days, have managed to rebuild a footbridge near the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium — days after it collapsed causing embarrassment ahead of the showpiece Commonwealth Games.

“The bridge will be handed over to the organisers (of the sporting event) soon,” an official in the army headquarters told IANS.

The army stepped in to build the retractable Bailey overpass after an under-construction footbridge collapsed Tuesday near the stadium, the main venue of the mega sporting event.

According to officials at the Army Headquarters here, construction work started Saturday and the structure is almost ready and will be handed over to the Games Organising Committee after a necessary safety trial.

The official said it took over 600 combat engineers from the Madras Engineer Group, known as the Madras Sappers, to finish the job in a little over four days.

The structure made of portable steel sheets and iron angles with roadbed width of 12 feet has been erected on concrete pillars on either side of the elevated Barapullah Nallah, on which the earlier structure rested, near Lodhi Road.

When the army was called in Saturday, the combat engineers swiftly went into action by conduction a quick feasibility test and then drew up a design, working literally on war footing.

They have added three piers to make the bridge - that will be used by athletes during the event - more safe.

The framework, made of iron grills serving as support for the floor and the railings, was completed on the second day.

The bridge connects the main Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium to a nearby parking lot.

The officials refused to give an estimate of the cost of the structure. The army will pack it away soon after the Oct 3-14 Games finish.

The bridge-collapse had triggered a barrage of criticism over preparations for the event, the biggest in India after the 1982 Asian Games.