Airport Road to fly into more snarls

Airport Road to fly into more snarls
Deccan Herald

Traffic on Wind Tunnel Road and a stretch of Airport Road is likely to be affected for about six weeks due to storm water drain (SWD) works in the area. The Bangalore Mahanagara ....

Traffic on Wind Tunnel Road and a stretch of Airport Road is likely to be affected for about six weeks due to storm water drain (SWD) works in the area. The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike is erecting a pre-fabricated arched bridge across the storm water drain, near the intersection of Wind Tunnel Road and Airport Road.

“Preliminary work started on Tuesday. If the traffic is diverted from Wind Tunnel Road, we can complete the bridge well within 40 to 45 days,” BMP sources noted on Wednesday.

The police have permitted the BMP to take up the work along half the stretch at a time so that traffic could be just regulated, and not completely diverted off the road. The BMP has reportedly appealed to the traffic police to divert the traffic entirely so that work can be expedited. The BMP and the traffic police were expected to arrive at a solution on Wednesday, but a scheduled meeting has been postponed as the police were busy with the All India Police Science Congress, sources said.

The pre-fabricated arch bridge is learnt to be a new concept in these parts. Its highlight is the quick-time (45 to 50 days) for construction. Its foundation rests on piers installed on the side walls of the drain and eliminates extensive excavation involved in the conventional process, said experts. The Wind Tunnel bridge will be a pilot project and the required material are being shipped from Malaysia. “The cargo has reached the Chennai dockyard; we will be receiving it in a day or two,” sources said. It is learnt that the BMP is likely to consider such bridges along 113 other points across the SWDs.

According to engineers, the pre-fabricated arched bridges will help overcome hurdles like multiple vents and the immovable cables and pipes laid in the SWDs bed by service providers like BWSSB, Airport authorities and telecom operators. Such a bridge offers scope for increasing the carrying capacity of a SWD and also ensure a relatively free flow, the engineers said.