A new technology being used in the construction of a flyover in the city, the longest in the country, would drastically reduce the normal time that would have taken for the construction process, an engineering expert said.
The Elevated expressway to the airport would be open to traffic in a period of 20 to 22 months
The 11.6 km-long Elevated Corridor being built at a cost of Rs 439 crore from the city to Hyderabad International Airport at Shamshabad on the outskirts was similar to the 9.5 km-long elevated expressway under construction at Bangalore, connecting Electronic city on Hosur Road and the downtown area, the expert S Sengupta said."Both these projects have been taken up using the latest technology of Precast Segmental Prestressed Concrete Superstructure erected by Overhead Launching Girders (OLG)," he said. According to him, total construction time could be brought down drastically with this technique.
Explaining the other advantages of the technique, the expert said superior quality control can be achieved due to factory condition of concreting in precasting yard. He further said it is environmental friendly, as no site concreting work is involved for the superstructure.
Dealing with another pivotal task of erection of the system, he said the bridge deck will be erected span by span by heavy duty OLG with no disturbance at the ground level, since the mega structure is located over city roads.
"All the precast segments will be manufactured at off- site casting yards and transported to the site on flat bed trailers during lean traffic period. Later, they were lifted and assembled transferring the self weight of the structure to the pot bearings located on the piers," he said.
The project could be opened to traffic in a period of 20 to 22 months, he asserted. However, it is necessary to address problems such as the lack of contingency plans and some unexpected issues that were overlooked in the planning phase, he cautioned.
Source: The Hindu
