The PWD (NH wing) and Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) are confident of completing flyovers at Vyttila and Kundannoor by May 2019 and March 2020 respectively, as scheduled.
Speaking of progress of work on Vyttila flyover, a PWD official said that altogether 27% of work is over. In this, 106 of the total 140 piles for the six-lane flyover is over. Likewise, piers (pillars) are almost over on the junction’s Kundannoor side and pier caps are getting ready.
Casting of the first beam to be placed over pier caps would be over within a day, following which it will be launched. Rest of the beams will be cast at the flyover worksite or at a yard which is located on the eastern side of Vyttila railway overbridge.
Flyover works will gather momentum on the junction’s Palarivattom side once beams are in place on the Aroor side. Piling is already under way on the Palarivattom side. The barricades will be extended further northward only after slip roads are readied on the eastern and western sides to divert vehicles.
Work on building retaining walls for slip roads is suffering delay due to rainy weather, PWD sources said.
The department has been attracting much flak for not readying service and slip roads prior to beginning flyover works in December, since this has been worsening traffic snarls at the junction.
16 piles completed
In Kundannoor, the RBDCK has completed 16 piles on the junction’s Vyttila side. “The initial few months during summer were used to raise and integrate service roads with the NH Bypass to ensure smooth flow of vehicles. Else, chaos and serpentine snarls would have occurred like in Vyttila. The funds for preparatory works were included in the flyover cost,” said an engineer associated with the work.
Piling will begin on the Aroor side only after slip roads are readied in front of two luxury hotels at Kundannoor Junction.
In Vyttila, the six-lane flyover is being built with a gap between three-lane structures on either side, since a metro rail pillar is present at the centre of the junction. This is not the case in Kundannoor, where a six-lane flyover would come up as a single structure supported by a pair of piers located side by side.
Harrowing time
In the meantime, motorists using the uneven Palarivattom flyover are having a harrowing time due to delay by the contracting firm that constructed the structure in resurfacing it. The firm failed to do this during summer months, though it is bound to do so since the defect-liability period has not expired, RBDCK sources said.
