The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) will kick-start work on Monday to scoop out the tarred layer of the crack-ridden Palarivattom flyover, prior to demolishing the deck, girders, and pier caps.
The tarred portion must be scooped out before cutting the various layers of concrete using diamond cutters. The dismantled concrete will be crushed at the same place and sent for reuse. Care will be taken to minimise dust when the concrete is cut into layers and subsequently broken.
Discussions will be held with Uralunkal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), the contracting firm, on how to minimise the impact of the demolition process on road users and others. A net curtain will be put up when the breaking takes place, while water will be sprinkled to abate the dust.
Unlike the demolition of apartments at Maradu , no explosives or chemicals will be used to dismantle the flyover. It will be a controlled manual dismantling, official sources said.
They added that the plan to cut the concrete into specific shapes and to transport them to build a sea wall at Chellanam had been dropped. This is because lorries will not be able to negotiate the narrow roads that lead to the locale.
Pillar
On whether a timeline has been set to bring down each portion of the flyover, the sources said it was not necessary.
“The process can go on parallelly, even as another portion of the structure is reconstructed. Efforts will be made to complete the reconstruction (of the flyover) in eight months, although a nine-month timeline has been fixed.
The reconstruction will give the structure a 100-year-life, as compared to less than 20 years if it were to be strengthened using carbon-fibre wrapping.
The existing piers (pillars) will be strengthened by providing a concrete jacketing. The pillars will remain intact, even as the layers above are demolished,” they added.
A senior ULCCS official said every effort would be made to complete the reconstruction on a war footing. “Despite odds in the wake of the pandemic, we agreed to take up the work, since Metroman E. Sreedharan was keen on having us,” he added.
Metro CE to head
In the meantime, the DMRC has deputed G. Keshava Chandran, its former chief engineer who oversaw the construction of the Kochi metro’s Kaloor-Pettah stretch, to supervise the reconstruction of the Palarivattom flyover.
He is at present general manager (Rail Overbridges) of Kerala Railway Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL), which is spearheading the Silverline railway project.
He currently works from the agency’s Kochi office.
