The DMRC began work to scoop out the tarred layer of the crack-ridden Palarivattom flyover in Kochi on Monday morning, prior to reconstructing its pier caps, girders and deck.
A pooja was conducted prior to beginning the work. Sources in Uralunkal Labour Contract Cooperative Society (ULCCS), to which the DMRC entrusted the work, said that the entire tarred surface of the four-lane structure located on Edapally-Aroor NH Bypass will be scooped out in three days time. This material will be taken to DMRC's concrete-pre-casting yard at Muttom, for possible reuse.
This will be followed by work to cut the concrete structure into pieces, using diamond cutters. The cut pieces will be brought down using a crane and crushed beneath the flyover, while taking care to prevent dust from affecting motorists and others passing through the junction. Simultaneously, steel will be extracted from the concrete, for recycling. The crushed concrete material too will most likely be taken to the yard, they added.
Sea wall plan dropped
The proposal to slice the concrete into specific shapes for being used as a sea wall in Chellanam and other coastal areas severely affected by raging seas, has been dropped. This is because lorries cannot negotiate through the area, it is learnt.
It might take up to four months to dismantle the pier caps, girders and deck of the four-lane structure. Reconstruction work, scheduled to take up to nine months, will be done simulataneously. A total of ₹18 crore is estimated to be the cost to dismantle and rebuild the structure. Piers (pillars) will not be touched, since they are strong enough. They will be covered by concrete jacketing, sources said.
The flyover, commissioned in 2016, was closed to traffic in May 2019 after over 2,000 cracks - small and big, were detected on its girders and pier caps. The 9-month reconstruction work was entrusted by the State Government to DMRC in the third quarter of 2019 and work was set to begin from October 1, 2019. The year-long delay ocurred after contractors and allied bodies approached the High Court, seeking conduct of a load test to determine the flyover's strength.
