Patto Bridge

The old Patto bridge which is said to be a historic monument was once the only way to enter into the capital city of Panaji. This bridge built by the Portuguese between the years 1632 – 34, remains undamaged and stands erect welcoming the guests till the present day. No other bridge built in Goa has an history of survival for this very long period.

The Patto Bridge, known as “Ponte de Linhares” (‘Ponte’ in Portuguese means Bridge) is a continuation of the long causeway again known as Ponte de Linhares, which runs across the River Mandovi ( Gomati ) .

It is named after the Portuguese Viceroy Conde de Linhares Dom Miguel de Noronha who controlled the three talukas of Goa - Tiswadi, Bardez and Salcete from the capital city Velha Goa or Ela (today known as Old Goa). He had built a 3.2km long causeway to link Panjim and Ribandar. The road was further extended to form a bridge called the Patto Bridge or Ponte de Linhares.

The Portuguese adopting the lines of ancient Rome bridge architecture, built this bridge on alluvial soil after stabilizing it with solid trunks of local timber known as “zambo” or “jambo” (benth). It was exclusively built in pure laterite stone. The domed arches made of laterite stone show the expertise of  Jesuits of the College of St. Paul (Collegio de Sao Paulo) in Old Goa and a Goan architect, who were sought  by Noronha for designing this oldest bridge of The Eastern India.

After liberation of Goa, the Panjim side of the Ponte de Linhares Bridge was known as the Patto Bridge and the area around the bridge is known as Patto. A few years after liberation, a new Bridge was constructed alongside the old one that is now known as the Mandovi Bridge or the new Patto Bridge. This one was built because studies stated that the Linhares Bridge originally designed for light traffic of horse driven carriages, coming from Old Goa, today defies heavy vehicular traffic. Recently, There was speculation that the gap between the two Patto bridges has been widening as the New bridge is likely to have been tilted towards the Mandovi.

Borim Bridge

Borim bridge was constructed during the constructed ( the exact date not being discovered yet ). It is a bridge connecting Ponda to Margao. Once it used to be the only path for the residents in Margao to reach Old Goa for the Annual St. Xavier Feast. One of the architectural feature of this bridge is that the pillars supporting this bridge were made of iron and filled with concrete in it which is very unique during the 17^th century bridges in Goa.

The annexation of Goa with India laid the doomsday for this bridge.  After several years of failed negotiations and deteriorating relations between the Portuguese and Indian governments over the status of Goa, the Indian Armed Forces launched a military operation to occupy the disputed territory. In the fighting that ensued, the Portuguese blew up a key strategic bridge over the Zuari River, linking Salcete with Ponda, in an attempt to delay the advance of Indian troops. The bridge was blown off in 1961. The damaged portion was repaired but the result was a very rickety affair. It was recommissioned by then Finance Minister Mr. Moraji Desai on 11^th May, 1963.

The repairs did not work for long and so the old bridge was eventually abandoned. They had built a wall (2-3 feet high)  to block access to the bridge after 2 boys drove right across without realizing it is a broken bridge and plunged into the waters below.

The bridge is now in ruins - replaced by a new bridge which is a few miles away from the old bridge as shown in the map (extracted from wikimapia). It was built about 25 years ago to replace the old one.

Khandepar Bridge

 

Meanwhile, for a picture of Goa’s Buddhist history, travel 4 km east from Ponda on the NH4A to Khandepar to visit Goa’s best-preserved cave site. Believed to be Buddhist, it dates from the 10th or 11th century. In addition to the caves, another interesting feature of that place is its bridge named after the River Khandepar. The 90 meters long bridge on the national highway built on river Khandepar, which links north Goa to Karnataka, is one of the oldest bridge in the state built during the Portuguese rule. It is an arched bridge ( but not roman arches like patto )

The Khandepar bridge is Goa’s lifeline to vegetable and milk imports and a vital link that joins rest of Goa to Karnataka especially Belgaum, Hubli, Dharwad and even Pune.

The bridge that caters to thousands of vehicles on a daily basis is crying for attention of the authorities. It is so narrow that two vehicles cannot pass over the bridge at a time and therefore a lot of traffic congestion occurs on regular basis, which stalls traffic movement on many occasions. Further there is load restriction which prohibits heavy vehicles of more than
16 tons capacity to cross over the bridge.

Several accidents have occurred on the bridge in the past. With the increase in vehicular traffic, traffic congestion occurs everyday and aggravates particularly when there is a breakdown of a heavy vehicle on the bridge.

So the Government is planning to extend the bridge by opening a 4-laned bridge. Sources say that the tender process for the new Khandepar bridge is completed and that the financial bid for preparing the detailed project report (DPR) for the Khandepar bridge has been opened this year.