The ongoing load test being done for Vyttila and Kundannoor flyovers will get over by Tuesday, and the results will be known in another two days, PWD sources said.
While load test was mentioned in the agreement that the RBDCK had inked with the contracting firm which built the Kundannoor flyover, the department decided to rope in IIT-Madras to do the load test for the Vyttila flyover too.
The tests - aimed at measuring deflection of the six-lane structures when fully-loaded lorries use them, were made mandatory in the wake of the Palarivattom flyover fiasco, where the four-lane structure located on NH Bypass developed cracks beyond the permissible limit of 0.3 mm.
The delay in conducting the tests had invited considerable flak, since serpentine traffic snarls became the norm during the run-up to the Christmas holidays, at both Vyttila and Kundannoor which cater to over 1 lakh passenger car units (PCUs) - including inter-State lorries and container-laden lorries every day.
Final lap
On Monday, the PWD issued a release saying that safety tests at both the structures was in their final lap. They include both technical and safety tests, to verify their load-bearing capacity and durability.
An expert team (comprising three chief engineers) would submit a report to the government shortly, based on the load-test results.
On the work of the Vyttila flyover taking twice the 18-month deadline (the original deadline was May 2019), PWD officials said the pandemic, delay in making payments to the contracting firm and about two months stalemate due to safety concerns aired by an engineer of the PWD quality team delayed the work. The Kundannoor flyover, which ought to have been commissioned in March, suffered a delay due to the pandemic and a last-minute change of design of the southern side. There was also delay in the KWA completing pipeline works at the junction. Efforts were on to commission the twin flyovers in the first week of January 2021, they said.
Officials of the PWD, RBDCK and the flyover designers were among those who are vetting the load tests, it is learnt.
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