Strength tested, Hero Honda Chowk flyover may open this month

GURUGRAM: The strength-testing of the Hero Honda Chowk flyover, that was recommended by NHAI’s special committee, was completed by the officials of a private lab on Saturday, who will now compile the report and submit it to the special committee within a week. If all goes well, the flyover will open by March 31.
According to NHAI officials, once the committee gives a go ahead, the traffic movement, closed for over months now, on the Jaipur-Delhi side of the carriageway will be resumed.
Strength-testing of the entire flyover was mandated by a three-member committee of NHAI, that was set up to investigate the structural damage of the flyover.
While the exercise was supposed to be concluded within 10-14 days, it took a month for the agency, hired for the purpose, to conclude the scanning that started on February 14. “We have been on the job with a sense of urgency. There were delays due to construction ban, weather and a few unexpected circumstances in crash barrier casting. But, we had completed our work in February itself. We had hoped that strength-testing would go on simultaneously and would not take more than 7-10 days. But they took over three days to complete just 2 spans (pillars) and the entire flyover has 14 pillars,” said an official of Valecha Engineering Ltd. On February 13, the NHAI and contractor claimed that due to the unexpected delays in casting crash barriers, they hoped to open the flyover by mid-March.
The 1.4-km long flyover constructed at the cost of Rs 197 crore had developed a gaping hole in May las year. In August, a three-member technical committee of NHAI released an interim report suggesting that a 15-m long and 16-m wide portion around the damaged hole will be reinforced with steel and concrete.
In October, Jaipur-Delhi side of the stretch was closed and it was claimed that within 45 days the work will be completed. The work couldn’t start as NGT banned construction. The work resumed mid-December and January 31 was the new deadline. It was later pushed to February 15 and then to mid-March.