Commuters can finally heave a sigh of relief with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) begining the repair work of the Kumbalam-Aroor bridge on NH 47 on Monday.
If the repair work is completed within two days as expected by the NHAI, the bridge will be thrown open to the public by the middle of this week. A road milling machine has been brought to Kochi from Andhra Pradesh for the repair work. According to NHAI project director C T Abraham, the milling work would only take one day. “The tarred portion of the road will be chipped off with the help of the machine. After this work, we will patch-up the ruptured concrete surfaces of the road using bitumen. The work may take another two days. After this, the bridge will be thrown open to the public,” he said.
The officials have also stated that the bridge need to be strengthened as it is prone to frequent vibrations generated when heavy vehicles pass over it.
The NHAI director said that the recommendations made by the IIT Chennai team for road repair would be followed. However, recommendations such as using glass beads on the surface of the road to raise friction levels will only be used during the second phase of the repair work. Tenders will have to be floated, and this might take some time, he said. “What we are aiming at currently is the temporary repair of the bridge that could facilitate the movement of vehicles,” he added. The total estimate for the repair work has been pegged at `2.5 lakh. The bridge which is located in proximity to the toll booth at Aroor was closed down for the past three months owing to its deplorable condition. As a token protest, several organisations numbered the total potholes on the stretch. A total of 200 potholes were recorded by the Youth Congress activists.