Major errors during the construction phase resulted in formation of cracks within girders and

pillar (pier) caps of Palarivattom flyover on NH 66 Bypass. Traffic would have to be banned
for another three-month period after the monsoon to rehabilitate the flyover, structural
engineers from IIT Chennai said here on Sunday, following a detailed inspection of the flyover
which is undergoing month-long repair works.

The team was led by P. Alagusundara Moorthy, Professor of Structural Engineering

Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering in the IIT. The team will supervise the ongoing
repair and rehabilitation works of the structure which was built in 2016 by Roads and Bridges
Development Corporation of Kerala Limited (RBDCK), a subsidiary of the Public Works
Department (PWD).

Traffic over the flyover has been banned for a 30-day period till May end for replacing the
deck-continuity expansion joints, which caused a bumpy ride for motorists, with conventional
strip-seal joints. The flyover will also be resurfaced during the time span.

The cracks over girders and pier caps, caused primarily due to inadequate usage of cement and
steel, will be rectified using Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) method, also known as
Carbon Fibre Wrappings.

The second phase of the rehabilitation works will be done for a three-month period after the
monsoon, from September.

The modern CFRP technology was chosen since the conventional method of rehabilitating the
structure will take upto nine months. The advantage of this is that the reinforcement using
CFRP will not result in additional weight over the pillars and piles, it is learnt.

Minister for Public Works G. Sudhakaran had stated here on Saturday after an inspection of the
damaged structure that administrative and professional lapses by officials of RBDCK and Kitco
(the project’s design and technical consultant), coupled with apathy of the previous UDF
government, led to the flyover getting ridden with potholes and its expansion joints developing
problems within months of its inauguration in October 2016. This also caused dozens of
accidents, mainly involving two-wheelers.

The slack supervision by both the agencies, coupled with unscrupulous practices like
inadequate usage of cement and steel, which reek of corruption led to the flyover developing
cracks as well, he said. The cracks were detected in October 2018 by a team of the Ministry of
Road Transport and Highways.
Mr. Sudhakaran pin-pointedly blamed Kitco for not giving due care to the design and other
critical parameters of the flyover that was readied by New Delhi-based contracting firm RDS
Projects Ltd.

Typical situations where non-destructive testing may be useful are, as follows:

1. Quality control of pre-cast units or construction in situ

2. Removing uncertainties about the acceptability of the material supplied owing to apparent
non-compliance with specification

3. Confirming or negating doubt concerning the workmanship involved in batching,

4. mixing, placing, compacting or curing of concrete

5. Monitoring of strength development in relation to formwork removal, cessation of

6. curing, prestressing, load application or similar purpose

7. Location and determination of the extent of cracks, voids, honeycombing and similar defects
within a concrete structure

8. Determining the concrete uniformity, possibly preliminary to core cutting, load testing or
other more expensive or disruptive tests

9. Determining the position, quantity or condition of reinforcement

10. Increasing the confidence level of a smaller number of destructive tests