56-foot-high highway to fly over BMIC road

56-foot-high highway to fly over BMIC road
The Times of India

Bangalore: The 9-km elevated ‘hi-tech’ flyover on Hosur Road is scaling new heights: It will be Bangalore’s highest flyover at a dizzying 17 metres (56 feet) from the ground.

The project, which aims to ease traffic woes of Bangalore’s tech czars on Hosur Road, was to have taken off on April 2. But, it hit a hitch: After all clearances were given, it was found that 1 km short of Electronic City, the elevated road would clash mid-air with the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor’s (BMIC) peripheral road overpass!

As a legal battle was triggered, the high court directed the two sides to work out a solution. Engineers on both sides said: Make the elevated road a sort of double-decker flyover with the BMIC Road, like Los Angelesfreeways.

Result: BMIC’s overpass will be at the traditional ‘flyover’ height of about 8.5 metres (28 feet); the elevated highway will go over it at right angles, at 17 metres.

“On the court’s directive, we reworked our technical designs along with the BMIC project company Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE). This solution has satisfied all parties,’’ National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials said.

There is still a small problem of engineering design for piers (pillars) that hold up the two different flyovers at the same site. Both parties could not agree on location and height of these piers, so the court has asked IISc’s civil engineering department to design the same and submit a report by September 23.

All details other than the pier redesign have now been worked out. The tendering of the Rs 450 crore project construction resulted in a new situation: Instead of the old plan of NHAI, the Karnataka government and technocrats of Electronic City sharing costs, the project will now be built by a private consortium of Soma Constructions, Nagarjuna and Mytaj (the construction concern of Satyam Infotech).

“They will follow the NHAI design which ensures the elevated road be built without obstruction to traffic. The new flyover will be ready two years from the start date,’’ NHAI officials said.

The land will belong to NHAI, which has also frozen the tolls for vehicles using the elevated road.

Similar to the build-own-transfer model applied on Tumkur Road, the elevated road will revert to NHAI ownership after 20 years.

High and mighty
HEIGHT OF OTHER FLYOVERS
Hebbal: 8 metres
Benniganahalli: 8 metres
Whitefield: 8 metres
Sirsi Circle: 5.5 metres
Richmond Circle: 5.5 metres
Jayadeva: 8 metres
Bangalore Dairy Circle: 8 metres
Central Silk Board junction:8 metres
Lingarajapuram (road overbridge): 6.75 metres