Ahmedabad: The extended deadline to restore Ellis Bridge expired in March, but the strengthening work on the city’s oldest bridge remains incomplete. The AMC is now likely to grant the contractor yet another extension, even as project costs have shot up by Rs 16 crore.The civic body had taken up special strengthening and restoration of the 1892 British-era bridge on Sep 11, 2024, for Rs 26.8 crore, with a 12-month completion deadline. When the work remained unfinished, a six-month extension took the total timeline to 18 months. That deadline, too, has now lapsed and the project is still incomplete.The cost escalation was cleared at standing committee meeting last Oct. The project outlay was revised from Rs 26.8 crore to Rs 42.9 crore. Interestingly, just a month before the committee approved the new cost, it received a proposal stating that 78% of the bridge work was complete. On this basis, the six-month extension was granted. The committee also approved a Rs 21.5 crore proposal for the same contractor to replace elastomeric bearings by lifting Gandhi Bridge, Sardar Bridge and Parikshitlal Majmudar Bridge, and a Rs 3.5 crore plan for sports facilities beneath the CIMS railway overbridge.The Ellis Bridge restoration project dates back to 2019, when the AMC appointed a consultant, whose report formed the basis for tendering. Though the civic body’s estimate was Rs 19.61 crore, the contract was awarded at 36.6% above the estimate, at Rs 26.8 crore. The bridge spans 433.4 metres with a width of 6.25 metres, built as a bowstring-type steel structure with 14 spans of 30.9 metres each. Its foundation comprises two 1.8-metre-diameter cylindrical steel piles at each end and 1.52-metre-diameter cylindrical piers with cross-bracing. The bridge, which had never undergone major repairs, has been closed even to pedestrians for the past 10 years.Based on a metallurgical survey, the scope of work includes repairing joints and replacing bottom girders and stringers. The dilapidated bottom deck is being removed and reconstructed.Vadaj, Naroda Patiya flyovers also delayed: Several other AMC bridge projects are also running behind schedule. The Vadaj junction flyover, which started in July 2023 at a cost of Rs 107.8 crore with a 30-month deadline, remains incomplete despite a six-month extension. The 2.5-km Naroda Patiya flyover, the city’s longest, was scheduled to be completed by July 2026 but is only 70% complete. The AMC has fined the contractor Rs 50 lakh for the delay, attributed to negligence by both the civic body and the contractor, and has set a revised deadline of June 2027.
