JLN Stadium foot bridges almost ready

A new foot overbridge (FOB) near Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium (JLN) will be ready for use by the end of October, Public Works Department (PWD) officials said on Wednesday.

The deck of the FOB has been put in place and will be opened for the public in a week.

A second FOB, being built in front of the JLN Stadium's gate number 4, will be completed in two months, officials said.

The second FOB had collapsed two years ago, before the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The two FOBs are being constructed at a cost of Rs 10 crore and will primarily cater to people who want to go to the stadium and residents of nearby colonies.

"One of the FOBs is almost ready for use and final touches are being given to it. People can start using it by October-end. The other FOB will take another two months to be completed and will be ready for use by the end of this year," a PWD official said.

Both the bridges were supposed to be completed before the Commonwealth Games in 2010. Officials said they went ahead with the construction after the Games because they had paid a portion of the total cost for these projects.

While one of the FOBs is being built near gate number 4 of the stadium where the Barapullah elevated road ends, the second one is close to the Bhishma Pitamah flyover near Fourth Avenue Road.

The 85-metre-long under-construction FOB had collapsed on September 21, 2010, after the pin of one of its 26 suspenders snapped. The suspenders connect the walkway of the bridge to the arch. Twenty-seven persons were injured in the incident, a major embarrassment in the run-up to the Games.

"The company which was responsible for installing the suspenders has been blacklisted. The new suspension design is similar to the one being used at the arch-shaped bridge in Ghazipur," a PWD official said.

ALSO READ

Won't overrule DU's 4-year plan: Shashi Tharoor at Google+ hangout

To beat cancer, Stanford professor reaches out to Keralites in Delhi and elsewhere

Woman alleges gang-rape by husband, in-laws

3 more cases of minors rape reported in Delhi