Hyderabad: Seven flyovers in the city are a grave threat to the safety of commuters. Constructed decades ago, they have been subjected to wear and tear over the years and are structurally unsound.
In 2012, the municipal corporation had conducted a study of flyovers more than 20 years old and prepared an action plan to rehabilitate them. The flyovers identified by the civic body were Telugu Talli, Dabeerpura, Khairatabad, Muslim Jung bridge, Purana Pul bridge, Lalapet, Basheerbagh, Masab Tank, Khairatabad, Hafizpet (Old), and Narayanguda.
The corporation has managed to fix Muslim Jung bridge, Dabeerpura bridge totally and Khairatabad flyover partially. Work is ongoing in the Lalapet flyover which has deteriorated very badly. According to highly placed sources, Masab Tank, Narayanaguda, Telugu Talli, Basheerbagh, Hafizpet (Old) and Khairatabad flyovers see heavy traffic and should be checked for structural stability, condition of the railing and expansion joints. Sources say that if the condition of these flyovers is ignored, they could collapse over time. They say the Lalapet flyover is a classic example of a flyover that had deteriorated so badly that it would have collapsed if it had not been checked out. The reconstruction or renovation (which is technically called rehabilitation) of the flyover has been going on for a year now and it will take another year to complete.
However, work on the other flyovers that require fixing has been put aside, which is dangerous to the public.
Explaining the rehabilitation, a GHMC official said that damage to bridges and flyovers that are more than 20 years old were baring failure, structural concrete failure, and failure of expansion joints that are fixed at every 10 metres for old flyovers.
He said that the baring have to be replaced every 10 to 15 years and structural concrete has to be checked.
He said that the corporation must carry out a fresh survey to know the exact condition of old flyovers.
“Based on the damage, the corporation would replace barings, take up micro concreting treatment, check the condition of spans which were joined by joint expansions. The civic body would also construct new parapet walls, and use e epoxy coating to plaster in places where concrete has chipped off,” the official said. He said that failure of barring and joint expansion will give rough ride to commuters and at times the flyovers will have tremor like movements. However, he said that the city's flyovers did not pose any immediate threat but they do need attention. Basheerbagh, Masab Tank, Khairatabad, Hafizpet (Old), and Narayanguda flyovers need attention. Since traffic was not allowed on Purana Pul bridge, it could be checked later.
