Peenya flyover to reopen for heavy vehicles, but not at night

Heavy vehicles will soon be allowed onto the Peenya flyover, but not at night, according to people aware of the matter.

The night-time restrictions will be necessary so that vehicle movements do not cause vibrations during the ongoing cement grouting works, said Prof Chandra Kishen JM, from the civil engineering department at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

Kishen heads a four-member expert committee to study the condition of the flyover.

The committee has suggested that no vehicles be allowed onto the flyover between 11 pm and 6 am, but a final decision is yet to be taken, he added.

"The flyover is currently closed to traffic (light vehicles) at night. We want the same arrangement to continue," he explained.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is coordinating with the traffic police to hammer out the timings, he said.

The 15-metre-wide, 4.2-km-long flyover on the arterial Tumakuru Road has been shut for buses and trucks since December 2021 after prestressed cables in its three spans gave way due to corrosion. The closure has seriously affected vehicular movement on the road below, causing traffic jams daily.

Last year, NHAI launched a Rs 38.5-crore repair work to add two cables into extra slots at every span and stress them to strengthen the flyover. With 120 spans in the flyover, the NHAI has added 240 prestressed cables.

In January, the NHAI shut all traffic on the flyover for 60 hours to conduct load tests on the 240 prestressed cables. The committee found the load test results satisfactory, according to Prof Kishen.

In March, the NHAI started replacing over 1,243 prestressed cables so that corrosion doesn't affect them in the future. The work entails de-destressing, removing and replacing the cables.

Prof Kishen specified that the work includes cement grouting, which requires five to six hours. Replacing all the 1,243 cables will take between nine months and one year, he added.

Vilas P Brahmankar, Bengaluru Regional Officer, NHAI, said the committee had certified that the flyover was "technically sound" and asked the traffic police to lay out an SOP for allowing heavy vehicles. "We are awaiting a response from the traffic police," he said.