ISLAMABAD: The federal government has awarded work for the reconstruction of the Hub bridge in Balochistan and it is expected that the project would be completed in 18 months.

Multiple spells of monsoon rain in July and August and subsequent floods caused massive damages in West-Zone, especially in Hub-Uthal-Bela section of National Highway N-25, resulting in the collapse of the Hub bridge.

The National Logistics Cell (NLC) has been awarded the construction contract for the Bridge. The bridge was constructed in 1962 by the provincial communication and works department, Balochistan.

According to official information, the field staff was available on sites and had successfully carried out temporary restoration work on an urgent basis to ensure the smooth flow of traffic. All the damaged sections of the National Highways in Balochistan have now been temporarily restored and traffic has been resumed.

Presently, work on a detour of this bridge has been started by the NLC to facilitate heavy and light traffic on a temporary basis till the completion of construction on the new bridge, and the detour is expe­cted to be completed within one month.

Meanwhile, a senior official, when contacted, said keeping in view the urgency of work in the larg­er nati­onal interest, the Natio­nal Highway Council accorded appr­oval to carry out permanent restoration works on government-to-government (G2G) basis as per the Public Procurement Regulatory Auth­o­rity (PPRA) Rules for state-owned agencies.

The official said the NHA along with Frontier Works Organization (FWO), NLC, Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), and National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) had already started carrying out a joint survey of flood damages, whereas foreign consultant would also carry out assessment/rehabilitation and fresh hydrology/hydraulic study.

During devastating flooding heavy structures of N-25 between Hub to Quetta constructed by the communication and works department were also severely damaged and collapsed. This included the Khanta bridge at 116km, Lunda bridge at 121km, five culverts between 130-160km, and Sardi Wala bridge at 216km. These heavy structures had been extensively assessed by Nespak and were now under the design phase as per the revised hydraulic study.

The NHA has requested Nespak to submit the same within the shortest possible time but no later than one month, so the same should go through the execution phase by completing all procurement formalities in the best interest of the public, the official added.

Published in Dawn, October 24th, 2022