Work to restore road leading to flyover near Solan begins

Solan, January 27

The work to repair a 50-m road stretch, leading to a flyover at Shamlech village near Solan on the Solan-Shimla section of the national highway, has finally begun after five months.

Five-month wait

• A 50-metre stretch leading to a flyover on the newly constructed four-lane Solan-Shimla highway at Shamlech village caved in on August 11 last year
• The flyover was closed for traffic after the incident; and the repair work has now begun after nearly five months

The flyover was closed for vehicular traffic on August 11 last year. It is part of the newly constructed four-lane National Highway-5.

The slush generated due to the seepage of water from a nullah at the base of the road posed a major challenge in the restoration work. The soil strata was weak even up to a depth of 20 m.

Now, it has been decided to construct an RCC wall on the 90-m stretch of the road. This would entail an additional expenditure of several crores, though a preliminary estimate of Rs 14 crore has been worked out. The work is slated to be completed in three-four months.

The design was finalised after experts from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the GR Infraprojects, which executed the four-laning work, examined the site.

Ram Asra Khural, Project Director, NHAI, confirmed that the work to repair the road leading to a flyover at Shamlech village has begun.

The load-bearing capacity of the affected portion of the road was found to be poor, which delayed the finalisation of its design. Detailed geo-technical investigation, including soil testing, was undertaken by experts.

As per the new design, two culverts would be constructed. This is supposed to plug the seepage of water and provide a safer road, officials said.