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Potholes that have developed on the Kundannoor-Thevara bridge, which was resurfaced earlier this week by the Public Works department (NH wing).
| Photo Credit: H. VIBHU
Potholes have begun to develop yet again on the carriageway of the two-km-long Kundannoor-Thevara bridge, which was reopened to traffic on July 23 after repair work that lasted for two days.
Vehicles had been barred for two days on the crucial bridge that linked mainland Kochi with Willingdon Island and West Kochi, for the Public Works department (NH wing) to execute the repair work.
Maradu municipal chairman Antony Asanparambil, who shot off a complaint to Minister for Public Works and Tourism P.A. Mohamed Riyas on Tuesday alleging that the repair work was done in a shoddy manner, said the municipality had not so far been informed about the action taken in this regard. “The development of potholes on the poorly maintained bridge confirms the municipality’s stance that the repair work did not adhere to norms. For instance, instead of taking straight-line vertical sections using a cutter, the tarred portion of potholes was scooped out with an excavator, resulting in non-vertical sections that were inadequately repaired,” he said.
Members of the public had organised protests and also put up flex boards atop the bridge, decrying the ‘shoddy’ repair work.
Terming the repair work as “temporary rectification”, PWD officials said potholes would have developed yet again due to spells of rain during the past two days and inadequate bleeding (and subsequent inadequate binding) of bitumen. The constant jerk of the bridge due to movement of heavy vehicles too would have led to this.
“All that can be rectified only when the bitumen surface of the bridge is scooped out and the carriageway resurfaced using stone mastic asphalt, once the rain subsides,” they said. This extensive resurfacing work worth ₹12.85 crore would necessitate banning of vehicles on the bridge for approximately 25 days, they added.
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