A city-based structural engineer has offered a simple and inexpensive solution to the problem created by a divider on the Begumpet flyover, which has resulted in many accidents, traffic jams and frights to commuters, the police and the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) alike. The solution is simple, says Mir Firasath Ali Khan, a structural consultant empanelled on the GHMC’s list of engineers. The GHMC can raise the height of the road on either side of the divider to a thickness of about 300mm, using aerated concrete.
“This will result in a thicker road, but will effectively solve the problem,” Mr Khan said. “The weight of the concrete wouldn’t matter much, as the flyover is designed to withstand load in excess of 5,000 kilogram per square metre. Aerated concrete is not only durable and can be sawed in any shape, it is also very lightweight, weighing only 180 kilogram per square metre,” he added. Also, with the material being cheap, the cost of the exercise would come to about Rs 1.5 lakh, he said.
The GHMC had submitted design suggestions to strengthen the old flyover and remove the divider, but South Central Railway engineers have not responded yet. The over-20 metre-long divider has turned into an unwanted island after the flyover’s expansion. It was originally a footpath built on the cantilever of the old flyover. Traffic police and the GHMC have tried using various safety features, including rumble strips, studs, chevron markings, collapsible bollards with radium stickers, signboards and blinkers to warn oncoming motorists, but have not been entirely successful, with accidents — even fatal ones — taking place quite often.