Lalapet Flyover works may take six months

Lalapet: The Lalapet flyover, one of the oldest in the city, is at last set for restoration. The flyover which served commuters for over 30 years is now due for a complete overhaul.

• The flayover was built in 1990. Length: 650 meters

• The total restoration likely to cost around Rs 5.85 cr

• A crucial link from Tarnaka to Lalapet, Moulali etc

• Traffic curbs imposed on RoB for a period of 2 months

• But, it is highly likely that works could take longer time

The Lalapet flyover is a crucial link for traffic from Tarnaka towards Lalapet and Moulali areas. With the presence of Vijaya Dairy unit, several South Central Railway units and soft drink manufacturing units, there has been rarely a quiet hour for the flyover which now creaks and groans and has portions of the surface peeling off. There have been a few instances, when minor accidents occurred after motorists lost control due to the uneven surface.

GHMC, which conducted an inspection of the structure, has prepared a cost estimate of Rs 5.85 crore to undertake repairs. Grouting to strengthen the beams has already been completed.

Sai Krishna, a junior engineer at GHMC, said the flyover, which was constructed 30 years ago, had bearing disrtress, structural concrete failure, and failure of expansion joints which were fixed at every 10 meters on old flyovers. He said that the bearings should be replaced every 15 to 20 years and structural concrete needed to be checked regularly to avoid collapse and the works for the same had commenced.

Also, works had been taken up to strengthen the flyover and repair the structure by re-concreting, crack treatment, bearing replacement and expansion joints replacement. Though the actual work was started in May last year, due to unknown reasons work had been scheduled this summer, he added.

In view of the restoration works on Lalapet RoB (road over bridge) on the Secunderabad to Khazipet Railway line at Tarnaka by the GHMC, Additional Commissioner (Traffic) Anil Kumar imposed traffic restriction on the RoB for a period of two months. But an engineer who was involved in the project said it may take four to six months to complete, as they were facing some difficulties in carrying out restoration.