SH to demolish and reconstruct Koraiyar bridge near Panjapur

Trichy: State highways department has received in-principle approval to demolish and reconstruct the Koraiyar high-level bridge on old Madurai highway connecting the Panjapur integrated bus terminus (KKBT) with Trichy city. Demolition work on the narrow bridge situated between E Pudur and Panjapur green park will be taken up from April 3. A new four-lane bridge at 23.5 crore is expected to be completed before Jan 2027.The department recently completed a pile load test for the new bridge to determine the structure's load-bearing capacity. Subsequently, construction work for a retaining wall on the northern side of the Koraiyar river commenced. Officials said that while the rest of the Old Madurai Road (E Pudur Main Road) from Panjapur junction till Trichy junction RoB near special police battalion ground has four lanes, the narrow bridge became a stumbling block for traffic from Trichy-Chennai and Trichy-Madurai NHs. Recently, the highways department, along with the revenue department and city police, conducted a review meeting to enforce traffic diversion and close the Koraiyar bridge. Land acquisition for the new bridge is already completed. "Reconstruction work was delayed twice due to PM's recent visit to Panjapur and for school board exams. From April 3, we will demolish the old bridge. The plan is to complete the work within Oct 2026. In any case, the new bridge will be ready for traffic by Jan 2027," an official source told TOI. The new bridge shall have a centre median and pedestrian platform. Since pipelines of Trichy corporation were already diverted and water flow on the Koraiyar is unlikely to increase for the next six months, the department is confident of reopening the new bridge by the end of the year. Officials added that vehicles will be diverted via Mannarpuram for the reconstruction work.