'Speed up glass bridge work between Vivekananda Memorial-Thiruvalluvar statue'

CHENNAI: Officials from the State highways department who inspected the construction of a glass bridge connecting the Swami Vivekananda Memorial and the Thiruvalluvar Statue in Kanniyakumari on Friday have given instructions for the work to be expedited, as reported by Daily Thanthi.

The glass bridge, which is being built at a cost of Rs 37 crore, will span 77 metres in length and 10 metres in width. It will be situated 7 metres above the highest sea wave level with an arch height of 11 metres.

Construction of concrete pillars on both the Thiruvalluvar Rock and Vivekananda Rock has been completed and iron columns have been erected to support the arch of the bridge.

The bridge has a glass section that would be 2-40 metres wide and will be supported by stainless steel cables with a total of 101 segments that will be used to construct the bridge. These segments which were recently showcased at a model exhibition in Puducherry is being transported to Kanniyakumari by container lorries. As of now, 30 segments have been transported by boat and placed on the Thiruvalluvar Rock. Subsequently, six ropes will be installed between the two massive pillars to form arch-like structures.

State Highways Minister E V Velu recently visited the bridge construction site to inspect the progress and directed the work to be expedited. Following this, Chief Engineer Sathiya Prakash from the Highways Department, and Division Engineer Sathiyamoorthy visited the construction site by boat recently to review the work.