Delhi: PWD to conduct structural audit of IIT, Modi Mill and RTR flyovers

With 540 days to complete the audit and associated consultancy, actual repair work is expected to begin by early 2026

The Public Works Department (PWD) has floated a ₹72.2 lakh tender for structural and hydrological audits along four key south Delhi flyovers, officials said on Saturday. They are: the IIT Flyover at the Africa Avenue intersection, the old RTR Flyover, two spans of the Modi Mill Flyover on the Outer Ring Road, and the culvert over Barapullah Nallah on Lala Lajpat Rai Marg.

IIT Flyover on the Ring Road. (RAJ K RAJ /HT PHOTO)

The tender also seeks hydrological and structural consultancy to widen and develop a 300-metre road stretch near the New Ashok Nagar metro station by constructing three new culverts. The tenders are expected to open on July 24, and the consultancy award will follow shortly thereafter. With 540 days to complete the audit and associated consultancy, actual repair work is expected to begin by early 2026.

“Most of the flyovers along the Ring Road and Outer Ring Road are at least 15 years old and are showing signs of aging. Some have developed surface cracks and others need the expansion joints to be replaced. A comprehensive structural audit is required for this. We will need to gradually do this exercise for most of the flyovers that have not been repaired in recent years,” said a PWD official.

Urgent problems fixed in May

PWD in May conducted a basic audit of all 100 flyovers in Delhi and found that the Modi Mill flyover needs patchwork, plastering and painting along with an improvement of the central verge. The audit found that the old RTR flyover’s crash barriers were missing and greenery of the central verge was not maintained. These problems were fixed immediately, officials said.

“After that audit we decided to do a comprehensive repair work on these flyovers after more scientific audits. So the work is being started now,” a second official said.

The structural audit involves a battery of high-end non-destructive and semi-destructive tests on the flyovers. These include rebound hammer and ultrasonic pulse velocity tests for concrete strength, carbonation depth measurements, core extraction, resistivity and pH analysis, load test and advanced 3D reinforcement scanning using Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).

Officials said that the consultant will also have to prepare construction drawings for a fresh baseline assessment and identify areas that require urgent retrofitting or strengthening. The consultant will then prepare a detailed estimate, draw up tender documents for rehabilitation, inspect execution, and issue a safety certificate post-completion.

“This four-stage approach will ensure that all structural vulnerabilities are identified and addressed comprehensively,” the official added.

Road along New Ashok Nagar metro station

The site, located between Holiday Inn Crossing and the Metro station, requires careful hydrological planning due to proximity to major stormwater drains and heavy footfall, officials added. The culverts will be designed to improve both vehicular and pedestrian movement and will include footpaths, road markings, and crash barriers.

The consultant will be tasked with soil investigation, structural design, preparing good-for-construction drawings and ensuring coordination with multiple agencies. Officials said that the work from audit to completing repairs will be completed in a year-and-a-half.

HT recently conducted a spot check of the Outer Ring Road stretch with a traffic engineering expert, S Velmurugan, chief scientist and head of traffic engineering division of Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), and found that at the Modi Mill Flyover, there was no auxiliary lane for acceleration and deceleration, no speed table for at grade crossing, leading to accidents, inadequate signage and road marking and bus stop right after exiting the loop on one side. These were some of the reasons for persistent traffic at the point.

Similarly, at IIT flyover, it was found that gore area treatment was not done, anti-glare treatment at median was required and the signage and markings were inadequate.

“Overall most of these flyovers need gore area treatment near entry/exit of flyovers and loops, properly designed signages, reassurance signages, road markings with two component two plastic paint and improving the geometrics of the loops/ramps and interchanges. Flyovers with restricted medians width need anti-glare treatment in the absence of plantation,” Velmurugan said.