Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated a three-lane 1.5 km long Koilwar bridge over Sone river in Bihar on 10 December 2020.
The bridge has been constructed at the cost of Rs 266 crore. The existing two-lane bridge for both rail and road traffic is 138 years old. A six-lane bridge is being made in its place, of which, a three-lane carriageway has been opened for public.
After completion of the other carriageway, traffic on NH-922 and NH-30 will ease substantially. The bridge is a major road for transport between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Apart from this, the Ministry has approved a four-lane elevated road from Bharauli (Buxar) to Haidaria for providing connectivity to the Poorvanchal Expressway. The DPR for the 17 km long link road will be ready by June 2021.
The Ministry has also approved widening of 70 km Mokama-Munger road, for which DPR will be completed by April 2021. Similarly, work on widening of Muzzaffpur-Barauni road will start soon.
The proposal of four-laning of Khagaria-Purnea road (NH-31) has also been approved and its DPR will be ready by April 2021. The four-laning of Muzaffarpur- Sitamarhi-Sonewarsha road (NH-77), which is part of Ramjanki Marg, will simplify travel to Jakanpur Dham (Nepal), and its DPR will be ready May 2021.
Moreover, a new alignment has been prepared for the Sasaram-Aarah-Patna greenfield project. On the Aarah Ring Road, 90 percent work will be covered by the existing three projects
Road works worth Rs 30,000 crore are underway in Bihar. A sum of Rs 4,600 crore has been released for compensation against land acquisitions. Under the Prime Minister’s package, which involves 24 projects of 1,459 km, the work is in progress over 875 km. Under this, tender for 125 km has been issued and by March 2021;a tender will be released for another 459 km.
Under CRF works worth Rs 2,097 crore have been approved in the last six years in Bihar, against which Rs 1,281 crore has been released till now.
The seven-km four lane Koshi bridge worth Rs 1,478 crore is likely to be completed by the year 2023. Also, tender for four km long Rs 1,110 crore Vikramshila bridge has been issued and construction likely to complete in 2024.
The work on Buxar bridge, lying within the 48 km road project, will be completed by 2021. This bridge will provide an alternative route of 250 km which takes six to eight hours for travel.
The tender for six km Rs 1,900 crore Sahibganj bridge connecting Bihar and Jharkhand has been issued, and construction is scheduled to complete by September 2024. Similarly, work on the remaining two-lane bridge over river Ganga in Patna will be completed by 2021. A sum of Rs 1,742 crore is being spent on reconstruction of the 5.5 km. bridge.
Construction of a new four-lane, five km long bridge over Ganga near the existing bridge in Patna, for which an agreement has been signed in October 2020. This will be a unique bridge with 242 mtr span facilitating movement of large ships under it.
The Ramjanaki Marg is being constructed between Ayodhya and Janakpuri (Nepal), of which 240 km is in Bihar worth Rs 2,700 crore. Work on 177 km will be completed by June 2021 and the balance 63 km will start in March 2021.