Goa:San Jacinto bridge to be up by ’09

Work on the span bridge connecting Chicalim to San Jacinto island has already started and the Rs 8 crore project is scheduled to be completed by September 2009. The work of the 96 metre long bridge is being executed by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC). It will have six spans of 16 metres each and 90 metre long approach roads on either side. The total length of the bridge including the approach roads is 276 metres. The bridge will be only 3 metres high.The San-Jacinto bridge is not cable-stayed. The work of surveying and soil exploration has already begun. The contract has been awarded to MVR projects private limited, Hyderabad and the bridge is scheduled to be completed in 15 months. Presently, San Jacinto is connected to the mainland by a causeway made by filling the river bed with mud and large diameter pipes to facilitate the flow of water. According to the consultant’s report, the river is a rich breeding ground of shell fish on which a large number of St Jacinto residents depend. The filling of mud on the riverbed has damaged the ecology and disturbed the breeding of shell fish. It therefore affected the livelihood of the villagers.This was one of the main reasons for building the new bridge. The central portion of the causeway, which now hampers the unrestricted flow of water, will be removed to make way for the bridge.The GSIDC has built about 20 bridges in Goa in the last 5 years, of which, the cable-stayed bridge connecting Aldona to Corjuem is the biggest.