The proposed Krishna river railway bridge at Vijayawada has moved through key planning and tender milestones as part of a 56.53-km rail project connecting Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with the total investment estimated at Rs 2,047.4 crore.
The 3.38-km bridge will cross the Krishna river in Vijayawada and form the central structure of the inter-state rail project. Vijayawada Division PRO Nusrat Mandrupkar told PTI that the project also covers 3.525 km in Telangana’s Khammam district and 53.005 km across Andhra Pradesh’s NTR, Palnadu and Guntur districts.
The bridge is planned with 53 spans, each measuring 61 metres. The structure will use open-web steel girders and a double-D well foundation, according to the railway official. Together with its approach works, the bridge component is estimated to cost Rs 565.83 crore and will be executed under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction mode.
The project was sanctioned on November 8, 2024, with a completion deadline of 33 months. The tender was issued on March 10, 2026, and opened on May 23, marking a key step towards appointing the agency responsible for construction. The information reported by PTI does not specify the name of the selected contractor or the date on which physical construction of the bridge will begin.
Land acquisition is already underway in Andhra Pradesh. In NTR district, the initial notification under Section 20A of the Railways Act has been published. This notification marks the beginning of the acquisition process and allows the statutory procedure to proceed. The subsequent declaration under Section 20E, which follows the completion of the objection process, is currently underway.
In Palnadu district, land is being acquired through the land pooling process. The supplied railway information does not provide details of the number of affected landowners, the total land requirement, compensation arrangements or the status of acquisition in the project’s Telangana section.
The bridge’s proposed design and its connection to a rail route spanning districts in both states make the project dependent on coordinated land, engineering and construction work across the inter-state corridor. The next stated milestones are the continuation of land acquisition, completion of the statutory process in NTR district and progress towards executing the sanctioned rail project within its 33-month completion schedule.
