2 x 8.5 m with a 3 m wide median at the centre. The box girder is supported by stay cables anchored in the pylon and stressed from a box girder bottom. Another flyover arising from the Merces-Old Goa bypass road joins the Mandovi bridge for traffic from Ponda towards Panjim. The revised cost of construction of the bridge was and the cost could increase by . The Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) said that almost 100 million litres of water was saved while building the bridge. Finance During the laying of the foundation stone, the Government of Goa claimed that the bridge would be funded independently. The loan agreement was signed on 8 June 2015 between the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the nodal agency, who granted a loan amount of . The original cost was estimated to be , that has risen to . With a re-payment period of 12 years, the government is supposed to pay an interest of annually for the loan. The total amount to be repaid to NABARD by the end of June 2027, therefore, stands at . The bridge is the most expensive in Goan history. On 20 March 2018, the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari, said that the central government would bear 50 percent of the bridge's cost, which is and an additional for the road connecting the bridge. Incidents On 26 December 2016, a worker died on the construction site after suffering from 90 percent burns after a fire broke out in an 8 meter deep vertical tunnel of the under construction bridge pillar. On 30 December 2017, a fire broke out on an under construction pier supporting the cable-stayed bridge; however, there were no casualties and the situation was brought under control. Traffic Mandovi Bridge is one of the most heavily used bridges in Goa. According to GSIDC sources, almost 66,000 vehicles travel over the bridge every day. Due to high wind speeds, GSIDC announced that two-wheelers and three-wheelers are prohibited from using Atal Setu. Criticism Environmental issues The construction of the third bridge was challenged by the Goa Foundation, who alleged that it is being constructed without an Environment Clearance. It also challenged the destruction of some 247 mangrove trees for constructing ramps to access the bridge. According to the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation's Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) report