• Project comprises of 170 steel bridges including Himachal’s First Steel Arch Bridge 
• Till now, Arief Engineers has managed to avoid long traffic jams

The four-lane work of the 22.91 kilometre stretch of the National Highway from Solan to Kaithlighat seems on track. This work was awarded to Arief Engineers for 598 crores, who has the reputation of delivering quality work. The work was started on November 9, 2018, and the target is to complete this work within 910 days. In these nine months, the company has delivered quite satisfactorily and unlike Parwanoo-Solan patch, the company managed to avoid long traffic jams and hurdles, in spite of the cutting work going on. Arief Engineers believes that steel is the future and the same is reflected on Solan to Kaithlighat four-lane project. Out of total 22.91 km stretch, 1.610 km area has to be covered by the construction of steel bridges, including Himachal’s first Steel Arch Bridge.

While moving from Chambaghat to Kaithlighat, the first steel bridge is proposed at initiation point, i.e., at Chambaghat only. Here one-kilometre long ROB (Railway Over Bridge) is proposed. Approx. ten thousand tons of steel has to be used in constructing this bridge. Next steel bridge is proposed near Mohan Meakin  which is 152 meters long. 

After moving a few kilometres from here, another bridge of 170 metres is proposed near Shivalaya. Here the First Steel Arch bridge of Himachal Pradesh is going to be built. According to Amit Mallick, General Manager at Airef Engineers “This bridge would be a state of the art bridge, not only in Himachal Pradesh but in whole India.”  

Next steel bridge in proposed to be built near Kandaghat Petrol Pump. It would be a 390-metre long bridge to be built parallel to the existing road. From 240 metres away from the end point of this bridge towards Shimla, 500 meters long tunnel will start. As claimed by the Arief Engineers, 50 meter trench of this tunnel has been already completed. Next major proposed bridges are 40-meter long steel bridge at Kuarag, 20-metre long bridge near Waknaghat and Railway Over Bridge at Kaithlighat. “Overall 170 small steel bridges are going to be constructed between Solan to Kaithlighat,” Amit Mallick shared.

The Experience of Mallick is working out…

The General Manager of Arief Engineers, Amit Mallick is a highly experienced civil engineer. He contributed in building India’s two prominent steel bridges, 4.93 kilometre long steel bridge on River Brahmaputra in Assam and 4.50 kilometre steel bridge on River Ganga in Patna. The ongoing smooth construction shows that his experience is benefitting the four-lane work of Chambaghat to Kaithlighat patch of Kalka-Shimla NH. In conversation with First Verdict, Mallick shared that till now about 100 crores have been spent on the construction. He said, “The steel is the future of construction, not concrete.” According to him “The cost of constructing steel bridges is about 30 percent more than concrete but the life is also much more than concrete construction.”