'Engineering marvel': Users slam 90° bridge in Bhopal that PWD took 10 years to build

A newly constructed railway overbridge near Bhopal's Aishbagh Stadium has grabbed eyeballs on social media for its unique design. The railway overbridge, which is 648-meter-long and 8.5-meter-wide, has not yet been officially inaugurated.

The RoB, built at a cost of ₹18 crore, features a sharp 90° turn, sparking safety concerns among social media users. Some users even compared it to the Gokhale Bridge in Maharashtra and the Ghantaghar in Bihar, often called out for engineering fallacies and poor construction. 

A user even went on to say that Chenab Bridge is nothing in front of this so-called masterpiece from Bhopal. 

"This is the Aishbagh rail-over bridge in Bhopal. PWD took 10 yrs to create this engineering marvel. Apart from being a traffic choke point, that 90° turn is a disaster waiting to happen, unless there's proper banking, signage, speed breakers, and lightning. All the best to those who'll have to use it," a social media user said. 

A netizen joked: "Forget the Chenab Rail Bridge, here's the real engineering masterpiece from Bhopal!"

"A newly built ROB in Bhopal features a sharp 90° turn. A potential accident zone waiting to happen. Who approved this design (sic)?" a user asked. 

"Move aside Gokhale Bridge. This Pythagorean masterpiece in Bhopal is an engineering marvel," a third user commented. 

"OMG. This is an architectural masterpiece like that Bihar Ghantaghar that's correct two times a day. This will NEVER be correct any time of the day (sic)," a netizen wrote. 

Project officials have defended the decision to have a sharp 90° turn on the railway overbridge, with the Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department saying that there is a limited availability of land at present due to the metro station.

Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, VD Verma, stated: "Due to the lack of land, there was no other option. The purpose of the RoB is to connect the two colonies."

PWD Minister Rakesh Singh commented on the public criticism, stating, "After a bridge is built, experts suddenly appear and say such things. A lot of technical aspects are taken into consideration while building any bridge. If this is an allegation, it will be investigated."