Corpn RUBs off hurdle, carriageway to open

Corpn RUBs off hurdle, carriageway to open
The Times of India

Bangalore: The 55-year old abutment (supporting structure) at Nehru Circle on whose track trains have been chugging along since 1949, was finally demolished on Tuesday. The demolition was to facilitate progress on the Nehrunagar Road Under Bridge (RUB) which, according to citizens, has been in a mess since November 2004.

When the new abutment sees the light of day, the much-halted work at the RUB can boast of project completion. In other words, the four-lane carriage-way envisaged by the BCC in tandem with South Western Railway, would be open to the public. And if implementing authorities are to be believed, the RUB would be spanking new and ready for use by July 20.

Apparently, the biggest challenge that daunted authorities was the 55-year old abutment — should this structure get weakened the entire track would go offcourse. Amid fears that demolishing a supporting structure might lead to weakening the track overhead, the BCC has replaced the plate girder which takes the load of the train.

Explains R. Jaiprasad, BCC’s technical adviser: “This was done on three consecutive nights. Only after replacing the plate girder can we think of further action. Prior to this we had to obtain permission from the railways.’’

Unlike terrestrial work like flyovers where work can be executed at any given time, the hurdle here is tuning their work so as to not hinder train movement.

Says South Western Railway Bangalore divisional railway manager (DRM) Mahesh Kumar: “There are 60 passenger trains that traverse to and fro on this line. Their movement has not been hindered because we usually keep shifting locations depending on the civic work happening at various places.’’ The city has two such abutments, one at Cantonment and the other at Nehru Circle.

The ‘unreasonable’ delay in work execution has had contributing factors as hurdles. The very first step was widening the road and paying compensation to people who lost land in the vicinity of Shivananda Circle.

Says Jaiprasad: “We then had to divert traffic, alter the box-jacking method. We had to provide footpaths which hitherto did not exist.’’
The RUB was built in 1949 to cater to the then meagre traffic which mainly consisted of cycles, carriages.