Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Load testing on the Barapullah elevated road that the government proposed last week to clear the air on its structural safety has hit a roadblock,sources said.
The government has sought advice from the Indian Institute of Technology,Delhi,following apprehensions that such a bridge cannot be put through a load test because of technical constraints.
Chief Secretary P K Tripathi last week said the government plans to test the flyovers load capacity following vigilance findings that some concrete samples taken from the structure failed the core strength test.
The Chief Technical Examiner of the Central Vigilance Commission had raised similar concerns for the flyovers built for the Commonwealth Games at the Raja Ram Kohli Marg and Ghazipur,East Delhi.
A major portion of the Barapullah road,built by the Public Works Department,is supported by vertical columns that sources said cannot be put through a load test because of technical reasons.
To check load capacity,analysts use equipment to apply measured pressure on stretches. They then tally it with the extent to which the beams that support the concrete from underneath bend,said a source.
Such a test can be done only on stretches that are supported by horizontal beams. There is no way we can take these readings on a stretch mounted on a vertical column, the source said.
Close to half of the nearly 4.4-kilometre-long elevated corridor is supported by vertical columns and the remaining on horizontal beams,said the source.
Portions of the two other flyovers in East Delhi,that vigilance officials faulted on structural safety,are also mounted on vertical columns,sources said.
As of now,we have hit a roadblock. We would have wanted the tests done right away but it seems we will have to wait, a top government official said.
Amid safety concerns and calls for strength tests,PWD engineers who built the flyovers have insisted all requisite tests were done during construction.
In fact,engineers in charge of the Barapullah road said vigilance concerns over the structures safety are baseless,insisting the samples of cement inspected might have been of lesser quality but still met the quality criteria as per the tender.
The Central Bureau of Investigation this month also filed a case against Public Works Department officials,without naming anyone,for allegedly inflating the cost of the Barapullah flyover project.
Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram
