Ahmedabad, Oct 22 (IANS) The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s (AMC) standing committee has cleared a Rs 21.55 crore proposal to carry out crucial maintenance work on three of the city’s old bridges: Gandhi Bridge, Sardar Bridge, and Parikshitlal Majmudar Bridge.

The project involves lifting 89 bridge spans — 38 on Gandhi Bridge, 48 on Sardar Bridge, and 3 on Parikshitlal Majmudar Bridge — and replacing the worn-out elastomeric bearings to improve structural stability and safety.

The decision follows the Gambhira Bridge collapse on July 9, after which the state government ordered comprehensive inspections of all bridges across the city and mandated urgent repairs wherever necessary.

An AMC official said that since no active tender existed for this category of work, the scope of the existing Ellis Bridge contractor was expanded to include the three bridges.

The same meeting also saw the committee approve an increase in the Ellis Bridge restoration cost — from Rs 26.88 crore to Rs 42.90 crore — sanctioning an additional Rs 16 crore for the project.

According to officials, major strengthening work on the Gandhi Bridge has already been completed, including the installation of new steel plates and seismic arresters, with minimal traffic disruption. Similar bearing replacement and span-lifting operation.

Over the past five years, Gujarat has witnessed a troubling sequence of bridge failures: the 2022 collapse of the century-old suspension bridge over the Machchhu River in Morbi killed at least 141 people. In December 2021, a slab of the under-construction Mumtapura flyover in Ahmedabad collapsed (no deaths).

In 2023, a newly built bridge over the Mindhola River in Tapi district collapsed (no casualties), a bridge in Surendranagar buckled under a heavy dumper injuring four, and in October, an under-construction over-bridge near Palanpur saw girders collapse, killing two. Most recently, on 9 July 2025, a 40-year-old span of the Gambhira Bridge in Vadodara district gave way, sending vehicles into the Mahisagar River and resulting in at least 19 deaths.

–IANS

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