KOCHI: Closure of the two-kilometre Kundannoor-Thevara bridge on NH 966 for a couple of days resulted in traffic going haywire in the city on Monday. Well, treat that as just a sample. Another traffic diversion, this time for over three weeks for a major work on the stretch, is on the cards.
A project for the pavement milling and retarring of the entire 5.9-km stretch – from Kundannoor Junction to CIFT Junction in Willingdon Island – at a cost of Rs 12.85 crore has received administrative sanction. The work, though, would start only when the rains abate. “It may take another two months for the work to start. The entire stretch will be milled and retarred. That’s why we indulged in just a pothole-filling exercise this time to reduce the cost, as the entire section will have to be retarred,” said a senior official with PWD (NH wing).
Originally, the retarring was scheduled to be done last November. However, it was pointed out that the stretch gets damaged easily due to dense traffic, especially that of heavy vehicles like trucks and container lorries.
“We found that the tarring on the bridge stretch gets rolled up easily because of high temperature. So we decided to go for German technology, using Stone Mastic Asphalt (SMA) instead of the usual BMBC (Bituminous Macadam and Bituminous Concrete). This technology, rarely used in Kerala, will be used for the retarring of both the bridges on the Kundannoor-CIFT junction stretch,” the official said.
According to the official, the method will increase the durability of the stretch as the fibre content in SMA is higher, compared to traditional BMBC.
A revised proposal was submitted and the same was finally approved on May 3. However, rain began lashing the city early this time and the project couldn’t be implemented. “We’re now aiming to begin the work in two months. The same may require a longer period of closure of the stretch,” the official pointed out.