Karnataka’s longest cable-stayed road bridge, spanning the Sharavathi backwaters between Ambaragodlu and Tumari in Sagar taluk, has passed its final load test. Engineers parked eighteen m-sand tippers on the 2.44-kilometre deck, steadily raising the static load from 25 tonnes to 100 tonnes. Instruments recorded a maximum deflection of 22 mm—comfortably below the 38 mm tolerance—confirming a design life of at least one hundred years.

Testing covered both the four-span extra-dosed section and the conventional approach spans, with National Highways Authority of India officials in attendance. More than 99 per cent of construction is complete; only final painting remains and the inauguration will follow the monsoon.

Costing about Rs 4.23 billion, the bridge—whose foundation stone was laid in February 2018—will end decades of reliance on ferry launches. Commuters from Tumari and pilgrims bound for Sigandur Chowdeshwari Temple will avoid the 80-kilometre detour via Sagar, while journeys between Kollur and Sagar will also be sharply reduced.