As the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), on Thursday, completed expansion of the service lane slip road at the Hero Honda Chowk, the work to repair the Jaipur-Delhi carriage of Hero Honda Chowk flyover will likely begin next week, officials said, adding that they will need another week’s time to first complete the construction of the U-turn under the flyover.
The main Jaipur-Delhi carriageway of the flyover was damaged on May 8 after chunks of concrete fell off leaving a hole in the road’s surface. The NHAI had formed a three-member technical committee after the incident, which gave its recommendations on how the repair should be carried out.
As per recommendations made by the three-member committee, a 15-metre-long and 16-metre-wide portion of the flyover, around the damaged hole, will be reinforced with steel and concrete. The committee recommended that the deck slab be dismantled in full and recast, with no traffic allowed until the concrete has gained the desired strength. To redirect the traffic and avoid congestion, the NHAI had then proposed widening the service lanes under the flyover and create U-turns for better dispersion of local traffic.
NHAI project director Ashok Sharma said that once the flyover work starts, the Jaipur-Delhi carriageway will be closed for traffic for a month to ensure that the new concrete road achieves the required strength. “The traffic diversion plan has been sent to the police department for approval,” Sharma said, adding that the expansion of slip roads at Hero Honda Chowk has been completed as per discussions held with the police.
Rakesh Mathur, deputy manager of Valecha Engineering Ltd, the contractor for the project, said, “The work is on in full swing and the repair work on the flyover will be started as soon the surface road work is over.”
According to NHAI’s Sharma, the repair is be carried out by the contractor, Valecha Engineering Ltd, at its own cost.
Inspector Azad Singh, in-charge, traffic, said that the U-turn under the flyover, which will allow traffic from Delhi to move towards Gurugram still needs to be completed. “The traffic (on the flyover) will be stopped only once the work on ground is completed and a diversion plan is approved by senior officials,” he said.
For now, the caved-in portion of the flyover has been barricaded and vehicles are being allowed on the carriageway. However, movement of heavy vehicles on one side of the flyover has been stopped to prevent further damage to the structure.
