Rourkela: The Rourkela-Sambalpur State Highway-10, popularly known as L&T Road, is nearing completion.

The road, which was earlier two lanes, is being converted into a four-lane one.

The 162km road passes the three districts of Sambalpur, Jharsuguda and Sundargarh. The major part of the road - 99km - runs through Sundargarh. The road is being built at a cost of Rs 1,600 crore in the public-private participation mode by the L&T group and expected to be completed in December.

While the state government's contribution is 20 per cent of the project cost, the remaining amount is being borne by the engineering major.

Chief project manager of the road Mahaveer S. Dasarathna said: "Already, 98 per cent work is complete, and we will complete it fully by December."

The work started in 2014 and was to be completed in 36 months. However, land acquisition, forest and other clearances led to six months' delay.

"We had to undertake additional construction for safety and other aspects. Consequently, the project was delayed by six months," Dasarathna said. "We required additional land to avoid a sharp curve near Raiberna, but the owners never agreed and at some places the forest clearance led to delay."

The speed limit on the road is between 80-100kmph. However, at two places, it has been reduced to 40kmph because of the lack of space. "The Raiberna sharp curve, where we did not get the required land to avoid the bend, led to reduction of the speed limit," said the engineer.

"There has been no compromise on the safety guidelines of the Indian Road Congress," said an engineer.

There will be three toll plazas on the road. On the total stretch, there are six major bridges, 32 minor bridges and six under bridges. Besides, there two flyovers - one at Rajgangpur and the other at Sundargarh.