Tamil Nadu

Lalapet road overbridge to be finished by January

Studying the progress: K.C. Palanisamy, MP, Karur, in the foreground, inspecting the construction of the rail overbridge at Lalapet.

KARUR: The construction of the rail over bridge (ROB) at Lalapet in the district would be completed by January next, according to Karur MP K.C. Palanisamy.

Speaking to the media after inspecting the progress of the work on the ROB on Wednesday, Mr. Palanisamy said that almost all works relating to the highways section had been completed and work on the Railways portion only remained. The Commissioner of Railway Safety had to certify certain aspects of the erection of deck slab above the rail tracks and that the permission for those works were received on September 22.

Sources close to the construction work said that a total of 1,900 special variety of strong grips had to sourced from outside for the work as per Railway specifications. The MP took steps to secure the huge number of grips that were available reportedly only in five places. The contractors have been able to get the special grips and work is expected to move into top gear in the days to come.

The ROB that measures over 2.1 km long was originally estimated to cost Rs.25 crore in 1998 but was later revised to Rs.31 crore when spade work commenced after a seven year slumber in 2005. The railway level crossing here at Lalapet was turning out to be a huge bottleneck and long queues of vehicles used to be a frequent sight here on either side of the level crossing. Crossing the particular point would take even two hours when there used to be multiple train crossings. Frustrated passengers and crew of vehicles rue their luck were they to be detained at the level crossing.

There was inordinate delay on the part of the contractor in executing the project and the authorities had to give several reminders to expedite the project. One factor or the other held back the progress resulting in the project shooting past a few deadlines.

Finally the Union Minister for Highways and Ports T.R. Baalu and the MP had to administer the bitter pill but they also facilitated the execution by lending a helping hand in getting clearances and providing logistic support leading to a shifting of gears in the work.

As of now most of the works pertaining to Highways including construction of carriageways and other gantry work are nearing completion while the launching of deck slab over the Railway portion that is over the tracks only remains. For that work approval has come and that too would be completed by the middle of December. Then final touches such as approach roads completion, parapet and others works would also come to finality.

“We set right several things and facilitated in the expeditious completion. Based on the experience of the Vengamedu ROB wherein the railway contractor took a long time to complete the railways portion of the work, here at Lalapet the work above the rail tracks also has been entrusted to the National Highways of India contractor for quick completion. In all probabilities the ROB will be thrown open for traffic by January as Pongal gift for the public,” Mr. Palanisamy said.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu