The highway was later widened to a double lane, but the overbridge work had been pending for years—turning the stretch into a bottleneck and causing frequent traffic snarls.
Udupi: Travelling between the temple town of Udupi to the education hub of Manipal is set to become significantly easier soon, following the successful installation of the Bow String Girder Bridge over the Mangaluru–Mumbai railway line at Indrali.
The work is undertaken by the National Highway Division of Karnataka Public Works Department in coordination with the Konkan Railway.
Manipal, known across India as a premier educational hub due to the presence of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) and other institutions, sees heavy daily traffic from Udupi. The Udupi–Manipal stretch, part of the Malpe–Tirthahalli National Highway 169A, is one of the busiest roads in the region.
Decades ago, during the construction of the Konkan Railway, a railway overbridge was built near Indrali School. Although a parallel route via Perampalli connects the two towns, the Indrali stretch remained the primary route.
The highway was later widened to a four lane, but the overbridge work had been pending for years—turning the stretch into a bottleneck and causing frequent traffic snarls.
Responding to growing public concern, elected representatives, including Udupi–Chikkamagaluru MP Kota Srinivas Poojary, actively pursued the matter with the Railway authorities and Ministers. Their efforts resulted in the long-awaited bridge work gaining momentum.
The steel girder bridge was assembled near the nearby petrol pump and was slowly pushed towards the railway valley over the last few days. The most critical task—positioning the bridge over the railway valley—began on Monday and was completed by Tuesday evening, officials told Deccan Chronicle.
The next phase involves gradually lowering the steel bridge onto concrete embankments by removing the temporary cribs supporting it. This is expected to take about 8–10 days. All work is being carried out in coordination with Konkan Railway authorities, the activities are mostly undertaken when there is no train movement.
Once the bridge is in place, the surface will be concreted, and the new Railway Over Bridge (RoB) is expected to be ready for vehicular traffic by first or second week of June.
Officials say the new RoB will be opened to the public well before the onset of the southwest monsoon, finally providing long-awaited relief to commuters.
The Bow String Bridge will also be an attraction due to its design.
