Work on elevated highway on New Natham Road begins

Vehicular traffic towards Iyer Bungalow has been routed through Race Course Road

November 14, 2018 11:17 pm | Updated November 15, 2018 08:25 am IST - MADURAI

A view of the New Natham Road in Madurai

A view of the New Natham Road in Madurai

After carrying out soil test along New Natham Road for months, the National Highways Authority of India has commenced construction work for the elevated highway near IOC junction.

The work, which had officially commenced on November 5, is scheduled to be completed in 24 months, though the officials have planned to execute it within 18 months. The project of constructing the four-lane elevated highway for 7.3 km at a cost of ₹618 crore is part of widening the 38-km stretch of Madurai-Natham highway.

Barricading of the work site to dig the road for constructing concrete underground foundation to erect pillars has begun. “We have divided the 7.3-km stretch into five segments for regulating and diverting traffic to carry out the work,” an official of NHAI said. In the first phase, the stretch of 400 metres of New Natham Road from Dean’s Quarters up to Bharathi Ula Road junction has been closed for one-way traffic.

Vehicles proceeding towards Iyer Bungalow from IOC junction have been diverted through Race Course Road (Tallakulam police station). Barricading of stretches has been planned with minimal inconvenience to road users to ensure their safety.

As part of the work of providing four lanes of road with median on the ground level, work on constructing covered drainage to drain run-off water from the road surface and also the utility duct has commenced. “These structures will come below the 2-metre-wide pedestrian pathway,” the official added.

While the underground drinking water pipelines for the entire stretch of the elevated highway would be replaced from the left alignment of the road to the ducts, the NHAI has decided not to disturb the alignment of existing underground sewage line.

Pre-cast concrete boxes would be used in certain critical stretches to avoid inconvenience for people in entering or exiting their buildings from/to the road. “The idea is to complete the digging and covering the ducts within a day,” he added.

Erection of high towers to replace electric poles on both sides too has begun. “The electric towers will come up on the outer most edge of the road formation to maintain the minimum distance from the road. The towers will be 12 metres in height, close to double the height of the poles,” he added.

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