The independent engineer appointed to oversee the IRB Surat-Dahisar Tollway Private Limited project has pointed out several lapses in the construction of the Charoti flyover.
The under-construction Charoti flyover on the Surat-Dahisar National Highway has not only been found to be damaged due to "unsound" concrete, but it has now also been revealed that the construction was carried out without any technically-skilled person or engineer being present.
The independent engineer appointed to oversee the IRB Surat-Dahisar Tollway Private Limited project has pointed out several lapses in the construction of the Charoti flyover.
According to the Consulting Engineers Group (CEG), one of the girder's cable ducts was damaged. A girder is the beam that supports the road surface. It is a horizontal structure to support smaller beams. Within the girder, there may be ducts for utilities.
"While cleaning the duct with water, girder number 3 shows heavy leakages at the bottom and at the deck level. Honey combing in concrete at the bottom and deck level has been observed. This shows that the concrete is unsound and pervious," read the CEG observation.
Honey combing is a term that denotes a void being formed in solidified concrete after the concrete mixture is poured. If the concrete does not flow like water and fill up the forms to the top, and is not vibrated properly, voids may form. Due to the observation about honey combing on the Charoti flyover, the girder was subjected to non-destructive testing to ensure its suitability.
In addition to this, another lapse that was observed was "grouting of pre-stress cables at Charoti flyover girders were going on without the presence of a bridge engineer or a technical person". Even more surprising was the absence of a construction drawing, approved mix design for grouting, cube mould and so on at the construction site.
"No quality control or safety measure was observed at the site," said the independent engineer. The IRB Surat-Dahisar Tollway Private Limited was then asked to stop such practices and to not execute any work without the presence of an engineer. The construction of this bridge has been underway for the past couple of years.
Later, in April, CEG found yet another lapse — the material being used for constructing the embankment was not conforming to the specifications of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
As part of the agreement between IRB Infrastructure Developers and National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), a total of 26 flyovers are to be constructed, one of which is at Charoti. The private agency has commenced the collection of toll since February 20, 2009, and will continue to collect it till February 19, 2021, for widening, operation and maintenance of 239km of the National Highway.
IRB did not respond to dna's query sent over an email about the serious quality control lapses found at Charoti flyover.
Earlier this week, dna had reported how IRB had been reporting to the NHAI about a substantial number of toll evasions by motorists, while it informed dna that such violations were "rare and negligible".
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