The public works department said the piers and pier foundations of the old Maravoor bridge over the Phalguni (Gurupura) river on Airport Road are too weak, necessitating the construction of a new one on Wednesday, February 4, in Mangaluru. | Photo credit: HS Manjunath
The old Maravoor bridge over Phalguni (Gurupura) river on Airport Road, which witnessed partial submergence of its base in June 2021, will be dismantled and replaced by a new one by the Karnataka Public Works Department.
The bridge was closed to traffic from 15 July 2021 while the PWD lifted the embedded foundations and girder by 29 July to open the bridge for traffic from 30 July that year. As the department was constructing a new and wider bridge adjacent to the old one as part of the four-lane airport road, the old one was closed in April 2023 for a complete overhaul.
Although it was put into service a few months later, in June 2024 the bridge was permanently closed. Traffic between the city and the airport and Bajpe/Kateel has since moved over the new bridge.
The old Maravoor Bridge over the Phalguni (Gurupura) River on Airport Road has been permanently closed to traffic since 29 July 2024 and traffic between the city and Airport/Bajpe/Kateel has been moving on the adjacent new bridge since then on Wednesday 4 February in Mangaluru. | Photo credit: HS Manjunath
One-and-a-half years after the bridge was closed for traffic, the PWD said that the restoration and overhaul of the old bridge, which was built in 1969 as part of the Mangalru-Athrady National Highway 67, is almost impossible. The foundations of the pier, like all the pillars of the bridge, have weakened, rendering it unusable. The granite masonry bridge with RCC piers has nine spans of 21 meters length, taking the total length of the bridge to about 200 meters. It had a 7.5 m wide roadway.
A proposal of ₹40 crore
Realizing that restoration of the old bridge was not possible, the Mangaluru Division of PWD sent a proposal to the government to dismantle the old structure and build a new one. The estimated cost is about ₹40 crore, which includes dismantling the old structure and shifting the debris, an engineer told The Hindu.
The vital road link to the airport has been disrupted as the Maravoor bridge is damaged
Public Works Minister Satish Jarkholi and Dakshina Kannada District Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao have promised to approve the proposal at the earliest, the engineer said, adding that work could begin after the monsoon.
The new bridge will stand in the same place as the old bridge. It would be similar to a newly built bridge which is about 200 meters long and 12 meters wide.
Published – February 8, 2026 1:53 PM IST
