What has happened to the flyover at Koyambedu in Chennai that has caught the attention now?
Multiple potholes, exposed expansion joints and steel reinforcements coming out have been creating many issues for the users of the Koyambedu flyover now. This has become a cause for concern now. It must be recalled that this 1.15 km flyover was constructed at a cost of Rs 93 cr and was inaugurated for public use in November 2021. In just 4 years, the flyover has now aged prematurely.
In many locations, the concrete coating on the stretch between Koyambedu and SAF has peeled off. It must be noted that the patchwork carried out by the highways dept has worn out now. Poor quality construction has been revealed by the protruding steel rods. The fact is that the exposed steel rods won`t weaken the flyover and this was as per some officials.
According to Mr. Sampath Kumar, highways and transportation dept professor at Sathyabama University in Chennai, concrete flyovers must withstand vehicular traffic for atleast 10 years. He spoke about how the poor construction quality has been exposed by this. He was of the view that the combination of m-sand and quarry dust was responsible for poor construction quality of the flyover.
Minor water stagnation has resulted in the parts of road coming off and this was as per Mr. Parthasarathy who is an assistant engineer (Highways) in CMDA plan. He spoke about how heavy vehicle movement over the flyover was higher than expected.
It was later explained by Mr. Haribabu, AE, Highways dept that after monsoons review for the flyover would take place. He added that reviews would be conducted periodically to carry out fixes in the flyover. He hinted that the flyover at Thirumangalam in Chennai has been patched up and after the monsoon gets completed Koyambedu flyover would be taken up.
