BBMP technical advisor says steel flyover overpriced

Project should not cost more than Rs 696 crore: R K Jaigopal

How much does the controversial Chalukya Circle to Hebbal Steel Flyover actually cost? A key member of the BBMP Technical Advisory Committee has worked it out to be Rs 695.86 crore. But the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has estimated the project cost at Rs 1,350 crore.

The width of the six-lane flyover is calculated as 24.20 metres. This includes three lanes of 11 metres in each direction, median of 1.20 m and two hand rails of 0.50 m each.

To get the flyover’s plan area of 1,61,140 sqm, the width is multiplied by the structure’s total length of 6,700 m. The cost then works out to Rs 567.49 crore.

The TAC member, RK Jaigopal added Rs 50 crore each for utility shifting and land acquisition, and another Rs 28.37 crore for preparation of a detailed project report (DPR) and supervision charges at five per cent.

As if the projected cost is not already high, the lowest financial bidder for the tender to build the flyover has quoted 41% higher. This will inflate the cost by another Rs 550 crore.

Jaigopal reasons that a pre-stressed concrete (PSC) flyover will ‘definitely’ be cheaper than a steel project. A steel flyover, he explains, can be an option only if its spans are between 125 m and 300 m.

“But using steel for a superstructure with spans between 30 m and 50 m cannot be substantiated. Moreover, a steel structure cannot integrate and blend architecturally in an urban environment,” he says.

Construction period
The construction period for the flyover has been fixed at two years. But Jaigopal wonders why it should take that long when the flyover could be built much faster with latest technologies available in the country.

“To complete the flyover faster, at least two or three agencies can work parallelly.”
If the actual cost of the detours and traffic delays during the construction phase are worked out, the expense could add up to Rs 400 crore. This, he says, is normally not considered in the DPR.

The way out, he says, is to use Accelerated Bridge Construction (ABC) techniques.
He elaborates, “If we do not catch up with these technologies, then we will be left behind. Already, in technical aspects, we are behind countries such as Bangladesh. In terms of construction quality, we are way behind East Asian countries.”