The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Expressway fails to pick up speed

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Friday, May 16, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Expressway fails to pick up speed

M.L.Melly Maitreyi

Delayed permissions, workers’ shortage hits project’s pace

--PHOTO: P.V. SIVAKUMAR

Tardy progress: A stretch of the Expressway at Mehdipatnam on Thursday

HYDERABAD: P.V.N.R. Elevated Expressway from Mehdipatnam to Aramghar on NH-7, the project to provide speedy access to the international airport at Shamshabad is not progressing at the desired pace.

If protracted negotiations with Central agencies like Defence, National Highways Authority of India either for land acquisitions or for permission to take up work on NH-7 put the project several months behind the schedule, shifting of underground utilities posed a tricky job and delayed the erection of piersAnd now the project faces shortage of workforce, a problem presently faced by the entire construction industry.

A visit to the site of the project funded by HUDA and executed by the contractor Simplex Infrastructure, gives one an impression that it will go well beyond the Government’s December 2008 deadline for the entire project. But then it is also said that time frame of 26 months itself for the challenging project is unrealistic. While only two km of super structure, though not in one continuous stretch, is in place so far of 11.6 km, one hardly sees any piers beyond Hyderguda and only a few near Shivrampalli. Cast-in situ- segment work was taken up recently in the SD Eye hospital - Rethibowli stretch with a deep curvature, after Defence officials gave permission. Each in-situ span with 12 segments takes about two months and six sets of ‘shuttering material’ are in use to lay six spans at a time. Of 23 in-situ spans to come up, only seven are erected so far.

Of 327 spans comprising the entire elevated structure, only 65 were laid so far. Out of 358 piers (support structures) , only 149 are ready. Though the pre-casting yard at Shamshabad can produce 220 segments a month, it slowed down the pace for want of stacking space due to slow off-take of segments.

But HUDA and site engineers say things should pick up momentum hereafter. With the defence giving permission to use its military road near Rethibowli and traffic police agreeing to divert traffic from midnight to 6 a.m., work has gained momentum.

Work however is going on at brisk pace for ‘Underpass’ at Aramghar Junction. HUDA Vice-Chairman K. S. Jawahar Reddy says they proposed to increase the number of launching girders for lifting pre-cast segments and placing them in spans, from five to eight to speed up work of super structure. The contractor was directed to mobilise additional workforce.

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