The Chief Minister told the Assembly that her government had conceived plans to the tune of Rs 1,130 crore to prevent accidents, and to improve roads and road designs, widen narrow bridges, create accident-prevention mechanisms near open wells, medians and road signs. In the current year, works would be implemented at a cost of Rs 400 crore.

Ms. Jayalalithaa said that 250-km national highways in the newly extended areas of Chennai would be expanded with drainage facilities and pedestrian pathways.

The total investment for the work was Rs 1,033 crore and in the first phase, works to the tune of Rs 250 crore would be taken up. She said two multilane overbridges – one each at Medavakkam and Keelkattalai – would be built at a cost of Rs. 18.50 crore.

A subway would be constructed on the South Inner Ring Road at Rs 50 crore to be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Source-http://www.thehindu.com/

The National Green Tribunal on Thursday issued a notice to the Centre on a plea that sought a stay on the Signature Bridge project across the river Yamuna at Wazirabad, until environmental clearance is granted.

A bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar sought response from Ministry of Environment and Forests, Delhi government, Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) on a plea filed by environment activist Vikrant Kumar Tongad.

“Notice be issued to the respondents by registered post/acknowledgment. Requisites to be filed within three days from today (Thursday),” the bench said, while ordering respondents to file responses within three days and listed the matter to August 19.

The Signature Bridge, which is being built across the Yamuna, was envisioned as a link between North and East Delhi. The project, which has been under way for the last nine years, is expected to be completed by the year-end. The Rs 1,131-crore project, which is being executed by DTTDC, is intended to replace the existing bridge at Wazirabad. Officials said the bridge will have a bow-shaped steel pylon 154 metres high.

But in his petition, Tongad has claimed that the construction of bridge is covered under Clause A of the Schedule of Environmental Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, which mandates prior environmental clearance from the regulatory authority concerned.

He said the construction of the bridge without an impact assessment and environmental clearance will result in large-scale damage to the river. The petition seeks to “direct the respondents to obtain the environmental clearance for Signature Bridge after conducting proper environment impact assessment of the project”.

Source-http://indianexpress.com/

KOCHI,

 JOHN L. PAUL

On Monday, a milling machine brought from Andhra Pradesh scooped out the tarred portion, exposing the concrete surface. “There are a few uneven surfaces over concrete and patch work will be done using bitumen. Vehicles will be able to use the bridge soon after,” said NHAI’s Kochi project director C.T. Abraham.

The bridge was built in late 1980’s by the Kerala State Construction Corporation using pre-stressed concrete. Five months after traffic was banned through the bridge, NHAI recently entrusted a contractor to scoop out the bridge’s tarred, potholed surface.

The repair work is being done on the basis of a report from a team of experts from IIT, Chennai. They spoke of how tarring has to be done afresh, since pothole-filling will not last long, Mr Abraham said.

Potholes developed all over the old bridge within a few months of NHAI resurfacing it in July 2011. Motorists, traffic police, NGOs and youth wings of political parties had blamed NHAI for inordinate delay in fixing the damage, despite the agency collecting hefty toll from highway users. The potholes thus became bigger, exposing the bridge’s concrete surface. After a slew of protests and accidents, NHAI curbed traffic through the bridge in June.

Container road bridges

Though Aroor-Kumbalam bridge is slated to be opened to vehicles next week, NHAI is yet to reopen two brand new bridges which were closed down in 2012 following structural damage. Both were built by Soma Constructions.

The bridge built parallel to the second Goshree bridge was closed to traffic after its gap slab began to sink at an alarming rate.

The NHAI entrusted the probe to civil engineering experts from NIT, Kozhikode, who are yet to finalise their report. To a question on how the problem could be rectified, Mr Abraham said the spans will have to be extended or their number increased, thereby extending the bridge’s viaduct.

Similarly, the Moolampilly-Kothad bridge on the Vallarpadam-Kalamassery Container Road was declared out of bounds for vehicles within a year of it being opened to traffic. This was after a huge chunk of concrete fell off the bridge’s surface, leaving a gaping hole in the bridge.

“Repair works are under way, following which the bridge will be opened to traffic,” Mr Abraham said.

By Express News Service – KOCHI

Roads for better life

Swati Ramanathan, chairperson, Jana Urban Space Foundation said that getting road rights was the starting point of addressing the quality of life. “Tender SURE takes a holistic approach to road design and it’s all about getting the urban road right,” she added.

Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, also president B.PAC, said Tender SURE roads will lead to better inter-agency coordination and avoiding constant rework as service providers are enrolled as stakeholders to achieve a consensus on the final design.

Roads and money

BBMP chief M Lakshminarayana said the state government has granted Rs 200 crore, of which Rs 100 crore has been released for road development. “But it costs much more. It’s expected to be more than Rs 600 crore for 45 roads. It’ll take another three years to complete all these 45 roads. BBMP has to bear the rest of the expenses. For this reason, we’re taking these roads in a phased manner,” he added.

Lakshminarayana said in the second phase, 11 roads have been identified and tenders for them have been floated. These include JC Road, KH Road, Nrupatunga Road, KG Road, Church Street, Commercial Street, Jayanagar 11{+t}{+h} Main, Basaveshwaranagar Main Road, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road etc, he said.

Source-http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com