With the work getting over on the Kochi Metro’s Thykoodam-Pettah viaduct, the stretch is most likely to be opened for service in the first week of April, official sources said.
The Commissioner for Metro Rail Safety (CMRS) would inspect the stretch on March 25 and 26. The 1.50-km stretch will be opened for metro traffic based on the outcome of the inspection.
The State government has made it clear that there will not be any official function in connection with extension of metro services to Pettah, due to curbs on public gatherings in view of COVID-19 precautions. The Government is also against opening the corridor before March 31, metro sources said.
The CMRS inspection will be followed by service trials. Once services begin in April, trains will operate at 25 kmph speed for a month on the stretch. This will be followed by trains touching the regular speed of up to 74 kmph as in rest of the metro corridor. Entry and exit on both sides of the station building at Pettah are ready. The only work pending is covering the station building using panels. There is space to park up to 40 cars near the Pettah station.
Champakkara overbridge
Work on the two-lane Champakkara overbridge on the stretch too is nearing completion. Two lanes of the bridge were opened to traffic in 2019. Two more lanes will be opened in June or July. The pending portion of the old bridge will be dismantled after pipelines and cables atop it are relocated.
The bridge built by the DMRC is unique since it borrows the bow-string girder design. In this, 1-metre-thick beams are sufficient, as compared to the conventional 2.2-metre-thick beams. This is because the bow-string structure provides additional reinforcement to the structure. This technology also lessened its length, saving on cost, sources said.
