Skywalk on Airport Road

Skywalk on Airport Road
Vijay Times


PEDESTRIANS, who have been struggling to cross the busy Airport Road, can now heave a sigh of relief with the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) taking up the construction of a skywalk (also known as foot over bridge) near hotel Leela Palace.

In order to enable pedestrians cross the roads with ease, the BCC, under a pilot scheme, had planned to construct seven skywalks, including the one on Airport Road, in the City .

Of the seven skywalks, the one in Jayanagar IV Block is already in use. The others have been planned at Residency Road, Cunningham Road, Hebbal, Double Road, Sir C V Raman A venue and the Airport Road. The BCC had initiated the idea of these skywalks three years ago.

While the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has designed the skywalks, the project is being executed by City-based company Geodesic, pioneers in space frame construction.

The BCC has authorised V antage Advertising Private Ltd to construct the skywalks on a Build, Operate, T ransfer (BOT ) basis, where the entire cost of the project will be borne by the company .

While the advertisement rights will rest with the company for a period of over 25 years, the BCC will collect the advertisement tax for the space. After the said period, the skywalks will be handed over to the BCC.

According to Dr B R Srinivasa Murthy of IISc, the skywalk was designed based on the structure of a three-dimensional space frame.

"This steel structure has been modified based on a design in a Scottish journal. The pre-fabricated three-dimensional steel structure is designed, pre-engineered and assembled before erecting the same on site," he said.

"The skywalk gives the feeling of walking inside a metro rail coach as it is based on the design of a structural system inside the coach," he added.

According to a senior BCC engineer , the civic body has planned 27 more skywalks in various places across the City .

"W orks have already been tendered and the same has to be awarded under various packages with construction of three to four skywalks under each package.

The BCC is also planning to have escalators for at least one skywalk, which is estimated to cost around Rs 1.5 crore, under each package while the skywalks with stairs are estimated to cost Rs 50 lakh each."