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An underpass has been constructed within a short span of five months to facilitate unhindered traffic movements during the Aero India show beginning on the 09th of this month at Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bangalore. The design and construction of this underpass which passes through the Air Force station dividing the domestic and the technical area, is a very unique infrastructure project across the National Highway 7. The construction of underpass had become necessary to connect the domestic and technical areas.
The underpass project was an initiative from Ministry of Defence taken in July 2004 and an MoU between Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and National Highways Authority of India signed on 24th Aug 2004 with a time frame of five months for design, construction and completion. Prof GL Sivakumar Babu and Prof BR Srivnivasa Murthy of Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore were the programme executives of the project.
The actual work commenced in August last year. The overall size of the underpass is 11.4 m x 4.8 m, with three vents of which two vents are 3.7 m wide, for vehicular traffic and one vent is 2.4 m wide for pedestrians with approach roads on both sides. It is 36 m long and made of six elements of 6 m length across the National Highway. The construction of underpass has many novel features such as use of box jacking technology to make the underpass without disturbing the traffic and use of soil nail technology for retaining walls. The attainment of strength required for sustaining jerking forces is verified through Non-Destructive Testing. The technique of box pushing, use of soil nail wall for approach roads, sequence of pushing operation and advantages gained in making the underpass without disturbing the traffic on the national Highway are helpful in professional practice of construction engineering in the long term.
UKM/ASR/RAJ
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