Over 95 per cent of acquisition of private lands has been completed for the proposed phase-II of the Outer Ring Road from Nemilichery to Minjur. Acquisition of government lands is under progress for the 30-km project.
Sources in Tamil Nadu Road Development Company (TNRDC), the managing associate for the project, said that representatives of around 20 companies visited the site recently. The pre-bid meeting has been slated for next week.
The State government had recently approved phase-II of the ORR, which will take off from where phase-I ends. On completion, the two roads would together form a semi-circular corridor from south of Chennai to the north.
M.Vasudevan, State secretary of the Confederation of Surface Transport Tamil Nadu, said that once the road becomes fully operational, at least 2,000 heavy vehicles carrying loads to south Tamil Nadu and to the north-eastern parts of the country would not need to enter the city. “Even vehicles proceeding from north to south Chennai could use it. Not less than 5,000 vehicles would use it.”
However, he said that the government must also create facilities, including warehouses, truck terminals and provide space for offices of logistics operators near Nemilichery, Vandalur and Minjur.
For the Rs. 1081.40 crore phase-I from Vandalur to Nemilichery, over 160 engineers and 2,500 labourers are working day and night to complete the 29.65 km long road that has eight vehicular underpasses, three major bridges, three interchanges, 100 box culverts and two minor bridges.
Of the 18 vehicular underpasses, 16 have been completed. So far, 82,390 tonnes of cement, 12,575 tonnes of steel, 5,28,404 tonnes of blue metal (aggregate) and 24,89,191 cubic metres of earth has been used in the project.
A total of 25 lakh tonnes of aggregate and 60 lakh cubic metre of earth would be used in the ongoing project.
Sources in the company said that each day, around 500 – 600 trucks carry earth and pond ash (fly ash) to various sites. Work on the interchanges and flyovers are carried out at night. Most structures, including culverts and retaining walls, are pre-fabricated. Bitumen work too would be taken up at night.
Work on the major bridges is expected to be completed by June and flyovers by September this year.
The interchanges at Vandalur, Nazarethpet and Nemilichery are expected to be completed by March next year and this schedule depends on the land acquisition. The Phase-I of the ORR would be completed by November this year.
