The Drigh Road flyover, which was built in 1996, undergoes numerous maintenance works each year. PHOTO: FILE
The Drigh Road flyover has undergone so many repairs in the last 20 years that the officials have lost count. As of 2012, the count was 22, according to then Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) technical services director Altaf G Memon.
In this year alone, the flyover has been repaired six times, said KMC assistant executive engineer Muhammad Irfan.
One of the faults in the flyover is its location. This was the only flyover in the city built on the right-most lane, which is a fast-moving track, explained a KMC engineering officer, requesting anonymity. “It is referred to as the ‘Right Lane Flyover’,” he said.
In the case of the Drigh Road flyover, the authorities needed the permission of the Pakistan Railways to construct the flyover on the left-most lane, said the officer, adding that the project needed to occupy a certain portion of railway land but the authorities did not approve the request.
Hence, the contractor - Maqbool Associates - decided to build the flyover on the right-most lane, which forced the gradient to become 5% when it should not be more than 3%, he explained. There are, however, no issues with its pilling and girder, he said, adding that only the deck slab needed repairs.
The flyover was also not designed to withstand the kind of traffic load that plies on it, said the officer.
“Heavy trucks coming from National Highway have started using this flyover,” he said, pointing out that the flyover’s deck slab is not thick enough to bear this much load, due to which frequent holes emerge.
According to the KMC official, a few months back, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah visited the flyover and gave directions to only repair the deck slab and not to demolish the flyover.
“The work order for the repair work will be issued in 15 days as the tender process has already been done,” he said.
The traffic diversion that will need to be devised during the repair is being debated with the traffic police, said the official. Till now, it has been decided that the traffic coming from Natha Khan Bridge towards Rashid Minhas Road will be diverted through the u-turn at Karsaz, he said, adding that we cannot give the u-turn before Karsaz as the flow of traffic is very high.
Other projects on Sharae Faisal
Apart from the repair work on the Drigh Road flyover, Irfan explained that there will be as many as four construction projects that will kick off simultaneously on Sharae Faisal by the start of next year and they will be completed in six months.
One of the projects includes the provision of a u-turn below Natha Khan Bridge. The Central Ordnance Depot’s boundary wall will be shifted inwards before and after Natha Khan Bridge and the road will be widened by 11 metres, said Irfan, adding that a u-turn will be made under the Natha Khan Bridge, over the rain drain.
Another project is the widening of Sharae Faisal from Metropole Hotel till Star Gate.
For this project, Irfan said the cantonment boards and Karachi commander are also on board but KMC will bear the cost of the project.
The road from Metropole Hotel to the FTC building is a three-lane road, which will be turned into a four-lane road by shifting the Pakistan Navy and Pakistan Army’s walls inward, said Irfan.
Sharae Faisal is a four-lane road from FTC till Karsaz so that portion will only be beautified via carpeting the road and repairing the footpaths, said Irfan.
Meanwhile, one of the tracks of the Baloch Colony Flyover, that has been serving no purpose, will be demolished and a flyover will be constructed at Quaidabad near Manzil Pump, instead, according to Irfan.
Due to K-Electric’s high tension wires and other heavy utility lines, the construction of an underpass is very difficult, said Irfan, referring to the underpass at Drigh Road.
However, KMC technical services director-general Niaz Soomro said that the construction of the underpass is included in the CM’s special package for the city.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 1st, 2016.
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