KOCHI: THE inability of the contractor - RDS Projects Ltd - to meet the deadline set by the IIT- Madras team was the reason for the delay in reopening the Palarivattom flyover, said Public Works Minister G Sudhakaran. He told Express on Monday that the company even failed to arrange quality materials suggested by the expert team.
“The contractor is carrying out the repair work on the advice of the state-appointed IIT team. But the firm is not competent enough to work with the expert team. They could not even arrange the quality materials suggested by the team to complete the repair work before the deadline,” he said. As per earlier plan, the flyover was supposed to reopen on June 1. However, the minister said the company will be given adequate time to complete the repair work so as to avoid any safety concerns.
“The contractor is supposed to do the repair work with zero payment from the government. So, we will give them some more time in order to ensure that the work is executed properly,” he added. The minister denied the opposition’s allegation that the government was looking to politicise the issue. “Vigilance is conducting a probe into the scam and strict actions will be taken against the officials responsible for the lapses in construction.But we are not looking to score political points,” the minister said.
At present, the contractor is carrying out major strengthening work of the flyover, including filling the expansion joints and replacing the bearings over the pillars. “We are setting up 24 expansion joints on the flyover. We need to fill these joints with adequate concrete to strengthen the bridge. Also, four old bearings over four pillars will be replaced with new ones. It will take at least a week to complete these tasks,” said an RDS official. The official said the they will lay a layer of bitumen over the bridge to smoothen the surface. “We had done a resurfacing during the initial stage of the repair work. We will have to do some more surfacing after the repair work,” he added.
Work on track
● At present, the contractor is carrying out major strengthening work of the flyover, including filling the expansion joints and replacing the bearings over the pillars
● As per earlier plan, the flyover was supposed to reopen on June 1. However, the PWD minister said the company will be given adequate time to complete the repair work so as to avoid any safety concerns.