KOCHI: It has been nearly a year since the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala (RBDCK) floated tenders for the construction of Vaduthala Rail Overbridge (ROB). After much delay, the ROB project appears to have taken off, with the stage set for conducting the load testing procedure to assess the stability of the ground and the site before actual construction begins.
“The RBDCK has offloaded on-site the equipment needed for the load testing procedure. As part of the process, a trial pillar will be constructed, and weights will be added to study the structure’s stability. Once the results from the study turn out to be satisfactory, the design of the ROB will be sent to IIT Madras for expert opinion.
As soon as we receive the design approval from IIT Madras, the construction of the ROB will take off,” an official with the RBDCK told TNIE. According to the official, the load testing process won’t take more than a week, and it is expected that the construction work of the ROB will begin by the end of the month.
“Things are moving at a fast pace. The railways too has completed the tender awarding process for the construction of the portion of the ROB that comes in the land that is under its ownership,” added the official. However, the local residents are not a happy lot.
Vaduthala resident Thomas Mathew, whose property is situated near the ROB site, told TNIE that the work seems to be happening at a snail’s pace. “The land has been acquired. Of course, the project got delayed due to issues related to land acquisition. But that is over now, and all the hurdles have been cleared, but we can’t understand why the work is not happening. The contractor has dumped all the equipment at the site, and now the traffic congestion that was already bad earlier has become even worse,” he added.
He said residents don’t understand why no approach road is being constructed, which is an important part of the ROB. “We have no idea what is happening. We want the construction to be over as soon as possible and the traffic issue solved once and for all,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ROB saw its total estimated cost being revised thrice. The project received administrative sanction for `35 crore in 2016. But, in 2017, the amount was revised to Rs 51.81 crore with the project outlay projected at Rs 47.72 crore. In the latest revision, it was further increased to Rs 91.9 crore. Vaduthala ROB has a total length of 458 m, including railway span of 33.39m.