Ahmedabad’s 133-Year-Old Ellis Bridge Restoration Likely To Finish by September 2026: Report

Ahmedabad’s iconic Ellis Bridge, built in 1892 over the Sabarmati River, will reportedly take longer and costlier to restore.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has reportedly extended the strengthening and restoration project deadline by six months and increased its cost to Rs 42.9 crore — a rise of Rs 16 crore from the original estimate, Times of India reported.

Launched on 11 September 2024, the restoration was to be completed in 18 months, by March 2026.

However, with 78 per cent of work done, the deadline has now been pushed to September 2026, targeting completion before the monsoon, ToI reported, citing an official note presented to the AMC standing committee.

At Thursday’s standing committee meeting, the standing committee approved both the cost escalation and a six-month extension for Ellis Bridge restoration work.

The committee also sanctioned Rs 21.6 crore for additional strengthening works on Gandhi, Sardar, and Parikshitalal Majumdar bridges, and Rs 3.5 crore for new sports facilities under the CIMS Railway Overbridge.

Once restoration concludes, the historic Ellis bridge will serve exclusively as a pedestrian walkway.

"Design proof checking was done by SVNIT, and the work is being executed based on their report. The recent flood in the Sabarmati delayed progress, and strengthening of the bridge's pillars is still pending," an AMC official was quoted as saying by ToI.

"The revised goal is to complete the work before the next monsoon," the official added.

A consultant was appointed in 2019 to prepare the Ellis Bridge restoration plan.

Based on their report, tenders were floated at an estimated cost of Rs 19.6 crore, but the final work order was sanctioned at Rs 26.9 crore — about 36.6 per cent higher than the original projection.

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