Overcoming many hurdles, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has completed 50% work of the upcoming 2.7-km four-lane flyover at Kazhakuttam for hassle-free entry to Technopark and through traffic from the NH 66 to the NH66 bypass extending to Karode on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border.
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The NHAI, which had set April 2021 as the target for completing the flyover being executed as a standalone project under Engineering Procurement Construction mode, is bracing forward to finish works by October.
“As many as 25 of the total 60 slabs and 57 of the total 61 piers of the flyover were completed by April first week and we hope to achieve the revised target,” a top official of the NHAI told The Hindu .
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The remaining four piers will be completed by the EPC contractor in the coming two to three weeks.
The flyover, to be the longest in the State capital on commissioning, is coming up on piers, each 30 metre apart.
The pillars coming up in the median along the four-lane NH 66 will have a diameter of four metre and the main carriageway for the road users will be 21 metre.
The NHAI is relieved, as a major hurdle has been overcome with the demolishing a 11KV tower, opposite Technopark of the KSEB, carrying the extra high tension line and on laying underground cables in the one km stretch. The NHAI had provided ₹1.3 crore for laying the power cable of the KSEB.
With the demolishing of the six-metre high tower, the authorities are hoping to expedite the remaining works in the initial 1.7 km from Technopark to Kazhakuttam of the flyover.
Drains
The drains had been completed and the works of the service road was in full swing. The KSEB’s poles need to be shifted to allow traffic to move along. “We have approached the police for regulating the traffic via the service road to expedite the works and to help the EPC contractor undertake the work 24 hours,” he added.
Such a traffic diversion will facilitate the movement of trucks and cranes swiftly for completing the remaining works of the piers and slabs. Moreover, it has been pointed out that it will enable the EPC contractor to undertake works during the monsoon.
The project got delayed over acquiring land on the stretch from Kazhakuttam to the CSI Mission Hospital for a Right of Way of 45 metre for the flyover.
The Kochi-based Cherian Varkey Construction Company that had been executing the ₹195-crore work since April 5, 2019, had continued with work during the lockdown.