The Hindu : Front Page : Subways, a cost-effective option

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Wednesday, Sep 17, 2008
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Subways, a cost-effective option

S. Sundar

— Photo: K. Ganesan

relief: Work to construct a limited use subway at Sellur in Madurai under way.

MADURAI: With the increasing number of vehicles on roads and ever-increasing demand to replace railway level crossings, limited use subways prove cost-effective and easier for implementation for the railways. The Madurai division has been sanctioned 12 subways for the current fiscal and work on four of them has begun.

The Divisional Railway Manager, Anil Singhal, said that it normally took more than four years for a road over-bridge to be commissioned from its conceptual stage. However, the subways could be completed within six months.

Stating that the construction cost of sub-way was around only one-tenth of road over-bridges (R-O-B), he said, “An R-O-B costs around Rs. 5 to Rs. 6 crore. But we can complete a subway for Rs. 50 lakh.”

However, sub-ways could not be constructed on national and State highways where the volume of traffic is high. The replacement of level crossings would also enhance railway safety. The only hitch with a subway was water-logging during rainy season that affected vehicular movement. The Southern Railway has found a way out for this problem.

“The open area of the subway will be covered with transparent plastic sheets,” Mr. Singhal said. The Southern Railway had proposed to construct retaining walls on the sides of open space and put up small speed breakers on both sides of the road to prevent rain water from entering it, the Divisional Engineer (Bridges), S. G. Ravindranath, said. This work would not cost much as just around 30 metres of space needed to be covered.

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