The Highways Department will begin the pile test for the construction of the road over bridge (ROB) at Annanur on the Chennai-Arakkonam railway line this week. The construction of the ₹24 crore bridge is expected to commence in a month’s time.
Sources in the department said that the tenders for the construction have been processed, and as a first step, the pile test for the foundation would be conducted at the location. It will take a month for the tests to be completed and design finalised on that basis. After that, the construction would be taken up, explained an official source.
The two-lane bridge will come up 200 m from the Annanur railway gate that will remain open till the facility is completed by the Nabard and Rural Roads wing of the department. Land acquisition for the proposed facility has been completed and the work is likely to take around two years. The gate is located 18 km from Chennai Central in Tiruvallur district.
Thirumullaivoyal resident B. Thamizhselvam said that he uses the gate at least twice a week to reach the market in Avadi and also to Poonamallee and at times has to wait up to half an hour for it to open.
“I have to drive 3 km more if I am to go via Thiruninravur and since petrol no longer sells at ₹10 a litre, I cannot afford to save time by using more petrol. In the last two weeks the price of petrol has gone up by ₹ 1.50 a litre,” he said, while expressing happiness over the commencement of construction of the facility.
