Nearly nine months after a segment of the Mujpur-Gambhira bridge collapsed in the morning of July 9, 2025, taking along with it 22 persons into a watery grave in the Mahisagar river in Padra taluka of Vadodara district, the bridge was reopened on Wednesday evening, moments after a tractor was successfully drove through the long span open web girder — launched on the two piers of the bridge to facilitate temporary movement of pedestrians and two-wheelers across the river.The restored Gambhira-Mujpur bridge — which stands as a reminder of the lives lost from the villages located on the riverbank — will enable about 4,000 residents of Anand and Vadodara to travel to work on two-wheelers, ending the need to take the 40 kilometer detour necessitated due to the collapse of the bridge on July 9, 2025.Vadodara District Collector Anil Dhameliya told The Indian Express that a notification prohibiting all other vehicles, except two wheelers, will be issued to ensure safety of the bridge.Dhameliya said, “We are issuing a notification prohibiting movement of all vehicles except two-wheelers… engineering measures will also be in place to ensure that no other vehicles pass through. This is for the safety of travellers. The bridge has been restored mainly to facilitate the workers of industries, and locals in the two districts, to move without requiring a detour… After the collapse, there was no connectivity at all and most of the employees, who were travelling by motorcycles, were taking detours.”Dhameliya added that the details of the refurbished bridge have been circulated to companies, who may now make arrangements to “pick up and drop” employees relying on public transport at the two ends of the bridge.He added that the decision on the restoration of the bridge for temporary movement was taken by the state government considering that no alternate arrangement could be made to connect the two banks of the river. “We had initially contemplated a ferry service and even approached the Gujarat Maritime Board as well as ferry operators but due to safety reasons, it could not be finalised.. The arrangement is temporary and meant for the time until the new bridge is completed.”Dhameliya added that about 65% of the construction of the new bridge, coming up parallel to the existing structure, is complete. “The construction of the new bridge is underway at a fast pace… we were able to acquire land in time from the local farmers on the Vadodara end. The bridge may be completed by August-end this year. In order to monitor the progress and ensure quality and standard checks, one deputy engineer is stationed permanently at the site.”How Mujpur-Gambhira bridge was restoredStory continues below this adAn official of the Gujarat Roads and Bridges department (R&B) told The Indian Express that the reopened bridge would facilitate the daily movement of about 3,500 workers, who had been staring at a loss of employment, while the industries in Vadodara and Bharuch district faced a shortage of manpower due to the disrupted route.The official said, “The total span of the open web girder was about 47 meters, which has been slid over Pier 4 and Pier 5 of the bridge… It was a challenging task as the bridge was already damaged and the task could be carried out only after conducting a thorough safety audit of the entire bridge. Wherever there was an issue of spouting, steel exposure or issue in the concrete, we took the necessary repairs along the remaining portion of the bridge in order to ensure that the temporary structure can be added to allow two-wheeler movement at least.”The official said that the marine salvage engineering company was contracted to complete the task owing to its previous experience of launching a 120-meter span for a Ro-ro ferry service.“That was, however, not on a partially collapsed bridge and meant to be for pedestrians only. Therefore, the challenge was to test and try the capacity of the existing structure before undertaking the sliding of the girder. The 47-meter span was assembled in parts of 25 meters and then brought to the site for the final assembly. The steel girder was assembled near the bridge and then the launching was undertaken,” the official said.Story continues below this adThe official added that on completion of the construction of the new bridge, a decision on the fate of the old bridge structure would be taken by the state government at a later date.The July 2025 collapse of the bridge had meant sudden disruption of routine for the residents of Anand district, who mainly used the bridge to travel to work in industries in Padra taluka of Vadodara district as well as Bharuch.On Wednesday, a tractor was driven through the open girder that has now filled the empty space between the two pillars of the bridge — signalling that the bridge was ready to be opened to two-wheelers from Thursday onwards.Relief amid ‘haunting memories’Residents of the villages on the bank of the Mahisagar– in Anand and Vadodara districts heave a sigh of relief. Ashok Padhiyar, from Bamangam who was among the villagers leading the representations for the bridge to be temporarily restored, told The Indian Express, “The fellow villagers we lost will never return but the opening of the bridge will at least ensure that the source of livelihood for the victims as well as other villagers will be accessible. Many people had stopped going to work due to inaccessibility and students dropped out of colleges. At least in the coming academic year, they will also experience some respite, especially during monsoon…”Story continues below this adPadhiyar added that for many travelling back through the bridge would be nothing less than “haunting memories”.“We will never be able to overcome the grief of losing our fellow villagers and witnessing families left devastated on what would have been a mundane day at work and routine travel… Although, everyone will eventually use the bridge to travel to work, it will not be easy to ride through it for the first time without a prayer.”