Foreseen as a troubleshooter to the traffic woes, the much awaited four-lane North ROB is expected to be commissioned by mid-December. The work of the ROB is in full swing and will be completed by November-end if the rain does not play havoc, according to DMRC officials.
The Metro Rail officials said the work of the bridge was initially expected to be completed by October 31. However, due to last minute change in plans regarding the construction of the Metro Rail viaducts along with the ROB work, the deadline had to be extended to this month-end. Also, the frequent downpour on unexpected days and pipe bursts in certain locations affected the speedy execution of the work.
“We had not anticipated the heavy monsoon that dampened the city this year and the unexpected showers proved to be a setback. The damage of the KWA pipeline in the first week of October hit the progress of the North ROB work for nearly 10 days. We have been counting on this month (November) to speed up the remaining work.
However, last Saturday’s rain affected three days’ work. If the rain continues, the work may lag further, officials with the DMRC said. Also, some areas, especially on the Lisie side of the bridge, were marshy and extra levelling work was required, contrary to the estimated plan.
Speaking on the change in plans of the Metro column at the North RoB, officials said that they had initially decided to complete the Metro column work on the Lisie side of the bridge after the remaining bays were commissioned. “Later, we decided to complete the work simultaneously with the bridge to prevent unnecessary hurdles owing to the traffic on the bays.
We have completed the Metro span and spear works at the Town Hall end. The construction of a retaining wall, filling of soil and tarring of the approach road have to be done. However, there are Metro-related works still remaining on the Lisie side,” the officials said.
The length of each Metro column at the four-lane bridge is 25 metres and height 16 metres.
DMRC officials said that the total construction cost of the bridge was `69 crore. Of this, they utilised `47 crore so far.
The preliminary work of the North ROB which is one of the prime preparatory work of the Kochi Metro Rail project had begun in November 2011. Initially, the side rails of the existing two-lane RoB had to be demolished. Later, the DMRC began the construction of the first and the fourth bays of the bridge which was completed in November of 2012 and thrown open to the public in December.
The DMRC started the demolition work of the central ROB in February and had set a deadline of nine months to complete the project.
The speed at which the work of the bridge was being carried offered a competition to the other stake holders in the city who are struggling with unfinished projects like the Ponnurunni ROB and the Atlantis ROB.
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