The Public Works Department (NH) has come under fire for the delay in resurfacing the Kundanoor Bridge and the adjacent Alexander Parambithara Bridge.
Repair works had begun over a month ago.
At present, expansion joints on the bridges protrude three to four inches above the road surface. The steep joints force drivers to stop their vehicles every few metres on the over 1-km-long bridges. Applying sudden brakes often lead to accidents.
Mastic asphalt cookers parked atop the bridge carriageway also pose danger to motorists especially at night.
The PWD had promised to throw open the bridge to traffic by mid-March. A senior PWD official said the resurfacing work would begin on Monday and be completed in another week.
The Kochi Road Gatagata Upabhoktru Samity has in the meantime demanded that the toll collection be postponed till the repairs are over. “The PWD must also reduce the steepness of expansion joints by filling the edges with mud, sacks or saw dust,” said Lakshmi N. Menon of the samity. The PWD official said that most of the resurfacing work was done at night.
“The mastic asphalt cookers do not work beyond eight hours per day and this is one reason for the delay.”
