In Mumbai: Second crack on Lalbaug flyover shuts it down again

Lalbaug Flyover, which was shut for commuters after a crack surfaced on it, has now developed another crack near the ITC, Parel end.

Lalbaug Flyover, which was shut for commuters after a crack surfaced on it, has now developed another crack near the ITC, Parel end.

Traffic police stopped traffic on the flyover as the gap widened. (Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo)

The traffic police has shut the flyover for the north-bound (CST to parel) traffic.

BMC completed temporary repairs on Sunday afternoon and vehicles were allowed on the flyover since Monday morning. However following the development of the new crack, the flyover has again been shut for commuters.

When inquired about the new crack, civic officials said that they were aware of the loosened concrete near the ITC section of the flyover and would take up the repair work in steps. “We didn’t receive traffic permission to carry out work near both the joints ( Chinchpokli and ITC). We will soon undertake repair work,” said official from bridges department.

The civic body is yet to carry out a detailed study on the other 69 joints across the 2.45 km long Lalbaug Flyover.

The flyover had been closed for commuters since Wednesday night after a gap was spotted on the six-year-old bridge, and it was opened for use on Friday as the civic body carried out some temporary repairs. After re-opening the flyover on Friday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) undertook repair work over Saturday and Sunday.

This had raised doubts over the quality of the bridge’s construction.

Sources in the civic body said that a seal between two of the bridges’ expansion joints had slipped, leading to the development of a gap on the flyover. Expansion joints allow continuous flow of traffic between structures while accommodating movement, shrinkage, and temperature variations on reinforced concrete. The gap had appeared near the Chinchpokli end of the flyover.

“The flyover did not develop cracks. The rubber seal between two expansion joints has come loose. The same contractor will undertake the repair work as it is within the defect liability period and we are expecting to finish the work by Sunday,” SO Kori, chief engineer (bridges), had said earlier.