Minister lays bridge cornerstone in Hilla

BABEL / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Minister of Municipalities & Public Works Riad Gharib on Thursday laid the foundation stone for al-Thawra intersection bridge in the city of al-Hilla at a cost of 23.400 billion Iraqi dinars ($20.500 million), set to be carried out by an Iraqi firm in 18 months’ time. “The ministry picked the al-Thawra intersection to set up the bridge due to the large traffic congestions in this area that represents the northern entrance of the city and links Babel province to Baghdad, Karbala and the southern province,” Gharib said during the ceremonies to lay the foundation stone. “The designs and feasibility studies have already been conducted and referred to an Iraqi company to implement it in one and half years,” he added. Gharib noted that his ministry has already referred for implementation nine bridges in the different provinces of Iraq including Wassit, Karbala, Thi-Qar and Babel. Hilla, the capital city of Babel province, lies 100 km southwest of Baghdad. AmR (P) 1