Paper No.

504

CONSTRUCTION OF GRADE SEPARATORS AT THE INTERSECTION OF RING ROAD AND AUROBINDO MARG, NEW DELHI A SUCCESS STORY
By S.P. B ANWAIT*, S.S. MONDAL** & RAJEEV S INGHAL***
CONTENTS

Page 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. Introduction Scenario at Safdarjung Intersection Selection of Design Geometrics Traffic Movement Structural Arrangement Acquisition of Properties and Shifting of Services Mechanised Construction Phases of Construction Pedestrian Subways Underpass Along Aurobindo Marg Roadworks Drainage and Ground Water Recharging Lighting Road Signages Environmental Considerations Conclusion
1. INTRODUCTION

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Delhi, an ancient city with history dating back to the time of mythological Pandavas has been a major destination for travelers from India as well as from outside. The planning of the city has changed with the change of rulers like the Mughals, the British and the present system. The road system of the city is
Written Comments on this Paper are invited and will be received upto 31st Dec. 2004. * ADG, C.P.W.D. (Retd.), New Delhi ** Member (Water), Delhi Jal Board, Arunalyay, New Delhi-110005 *** Executive Engineer, Amritsar Central Division, C.P.W.D., Amritsar (Punjab)

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ring-radial and bulk of the traffic is road-based only as till recently no other mode of transport was available. The Ring Railway, started in the year 1954, did not serve the desired purpose on account of the development of the city has taken place. The unprecedented increase in the number of vehicles has choked the road system. Most of the capital cities in developed countries have multi-modal transportation systems. The metro rail project in Delhi, though started recently, may take-off fully only after another five years as a result of which the traffic congestion on the roads in the command areas of the metro rail may be reduced. But, it is important that the problem be addressed in the transition period. As per the master plan of Delhi dating back to 1962, three Ring Roads were planned, namely, the inner Ring Road, the Ring Road and the outer Ring Road. The inner Ring Road however, did not become a complete entity and has remained largely dysfunctional till date. The other two Rings, i.e., the Ring Road and the Outer Ring Road acted as the main transport arteries. Till the late seventies, the Ring Road was the major traffic artery as the population around the Outer Ring Road was sparse. However, both these roads carry large volumes of traffic presently and urgent steps were needed to ensure faster and smooth flow of traffic. As per the study commissoned between 1988 & 1991 by the then Delhi Admn. for decongesting Ring Road, construction of three level grade separator at the intersection of Aurobindo Marg and Ring Road near AIIMS was recommended apart from making similar suggestions for other important intersections of Ring Road with the other roads.
2. SCENARIAO AT SAFDARJUNG INTERSECTION

As per traffic census, the peak time traffic coming to this intersection exceeds 12,000 PCUs per hour. A sizeable volume of pedestrian traffic on this intersection is generated on account of two premier medical institutions of the country, namely Safdarjung Hospital and AIIMS. This situation necessitated the construction of grade separator at the main intersection and two subways across Ring Road, one each in front of the two hospitals for pedestrian traffic. The Delhi Haat situated in another quadrant of the intersection is one of the most popular tourist destinations of the city and attracts thousands of visitors daily. There are a number of D-II Type Flats on this intersection, which house a number of senior Govt. officers. The intersection therefore acquires eminence as compared to the other important intersections on the Ring Road.

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3. SELECTION OF DESIGN

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The design of the flyover was selected through an open competition. Concept entries were invited from architects all over the country and the most appropriate concept was selected by a specially constituted board. The design selected by the board was deemed to have the approval of the departments represented by the members of the board. This was an innovative approach adopted for the first time in the country for selection of design of the flyover. The design as selected by the Board of Assessors is shown in Plate 1. It was also decided by the board that the work of detailing of the design would be given to the agency whose design had been adjudged the best. The design was further improved from the consideration of traffic engineering by an infrastructure committee under the chairmanship of the Engineer-in-Chief, PWD having members with vast experience in the field of design and construction of flyovers. The design as improved by the infrastructure committee is shown in Plate 2.

Plate 1. Design as selected by the Board of Assessors 4. GEOMETRICS

Since the configuration of the flyover had to be accommodated in fully built up urban environment, it was necessary to fit the configuration in minimum

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possible space so that least number of structures and services were disturbed. Due to limitation of space, the loops had to be provided with tight radii and the permissible speed of the vehicles on the loops had to be restricted to 30 km per hour.

Plate 2. Design as improved by the Infrastructure Committee

The radius of left turning loop from INA to Dhaula Kuan varies from 70 metres near the transition curve, and thereafter reduces to 35.5 metres. The radius of the left turning loop from Green Park to South Extn varies from 122.3 metres near the transition curve to a radius of 35 metres. The radius of the Uturn for the traffic coming from the Dhaula Kuan side and entering into Safdarjung Hospital had to be restricted to 9.9 metres. The down ramps from the two flyovers have been given a slope of 1 in 30, except for the climbing ramp from Green Park which has a slope of one in 20 just before the loop meets the skew flyover. The clearance below the flyover has been kept as 5 metres in order to enable the fire tenders to move freely. The width of the roads varies from 7 metres to 11 metres. The width of centeral verge has been kept as 1.2 metres on the underpass along Aurobindo Marg. For the roads going on both the flyovers, double faced crash barrier having a width of 0.65 metre at its base acts as the central verge. Footpaths have been provided at ground level along all the four slip roads for pedestrian movement.

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In order to make the flyover less obtrusive, it was decided to restrict the total rise of the flyover. The Aurobindo Marg was, therefore, depressed by 2.5 metres and the Ring Road was raised by 4.5 metres. Plate 3 shows a photograph of the model of the flyover scheme.

Plate 3. Photograph of the model of the flyover scheme 5. TRAFFIC MOVEMENT

The traffic has been made free in all the directions with this interchange. A total of 13 movements with four each for left, straight and right turning traffic with a U-turn for the traffic coming from Ring Road and intending to enter into Safdarjung hospital have been provided. The traffic intending to turn left takes the slip road along the compound wall of AIIMS. The traffic intending to go right towards INA first climbs straight on the skew flyover and then comes down along the loop towards INA. The traffic coming from Dhaula Kuan goes on the curved flyover towards South Extn. The left turning traffic towards INA takes the left slip road and the right turning traffic towards Green Park first climbs on the curved flyover and then comes down on Aurobindo Marg below the skew flyover. The straight moving traffic on the Aurobindo Marg moves straight on the underpass below both the flyovers. The left turning traffic from Green park uses the slip road along the compound wall of Safdarjung Hospital and the right turning traffic goes below

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the skew flyover and then takes the left turning loop to come on the skew flyover. Plate 4 shows the movement of traffic from INA side. The left turning traffic from INA side uses the rising slip road and the right turning traffic goes below the curved flyover along the underpass, and then takes the left turning loop to come on the curved flyover. The straight going traffic moves straight on the underpass along the Aurobindo Marg.

Plate 4. Traffic Movement from INA Side

Plate 5 shows the movement of traffic from Green Park side. The left turning traffic from Green park side moves at ground level on the slip road constructed along the boundary wall of Safdarjung Hospital. The straight going traffic uses the underpass along Aurobindo Marg. The right turning traffic goes on the underpass, passes below the skew flyover, takes a left turn on the loop to come over the skew flyover to go towards South Extn. Plate 6 shows the traffic movement from Lajpat Nagar side. The straight going traffic goes straight on the skew flyover towards Dhaula Kuan. The left turning traffic moves on the ground level over the slip road constructed along the boundary wall of AIIMS. The right turning traffic climbs over the skew flyover and then turns right on the right turning loop to move towards INA.

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Plate 5. Traffic Movement from Green Park Side

Plate 6. Traffic Movement from Lajpat Nagar Side

The traffic coming from Dhaula Kuan and intending to turn left climbs on the left turning loop towards INA. The straight going traffic also turns left on this slip road and then passes over the curved flyover to go towards Lajpat Nagar. The traffic wanting to go right shall also climb over the curved flyover and turn right over the loop and pass below the skew flyover to go towards

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Green Park. A U-turn has also been provided for the traffic coming from Dhaula Kuan to enter into Safdarjung Hospital as shown in Plate 7.

Plate 7. Traffic Movement from Dhaula Kuan Sid 6. STRUCTURAL ARRANGEMENT

The interchange consists of two flyovers across Ring Road, one being curved in plan and the other skewed Plate 8 shows the locations of these flyovers alongwith retaining walls. Both the flyovers have a solid slab super structure having a maximum thickness of 1.7 m at the piers reducing to 1.3 m in the center of the span. The super structure is continuous over the supports to reduce the number of joints so as to ensure a better riding quality. The super structure is supported over solid piers, which are aesthetically pleasing. GAD of the curved and skew flyover is shown in Plate no. 9 and 10. The foundations consist of 1.2 m dia cast in situ, bored piles with depths varying from 18 to 25 m. Cantilever type retaining walls have been provided to support the roads in embankments. The foundations consist of 18 to 25 m deep, bored cast-in-situ concrete pile of M-35 grade. Plate 11 shows the lowering of the reinforcement cage for a 25 m long pile. The entire cage was lifted in one piece with the help of crane and lowered in the bore in one go. This process saved time in lowering of the cage as well as flushing of the bore. POT-PTFE type bearings have been adopted for transfer of vertical loads along with elastomeric bearings for taking care of the horizontal forces. Single strip seal and modular expansion joints have been provided at the ends of the

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Plate 8. Location of retaining wall with curved and skew flyover and under pass

Plate 9. GAD of curved flyover

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Plate 10. GAD of skew flyover

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Plate 11. Lowering of Pile cage

superstructure of the curved and skew flyover. Plate 12 shows a typical POTPTFE bearing fixed on a bearing pedestal and Plate 13 shows the modular expansion joint fixed in position for casting. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has proposed a corridor for Metro Rail below the present Aurobindo Marg. The geometrics and the structural design of the flyover had to be improvised to accommodate two tunnels each having a dia of 6 metres below Aurobindo Marg. For this purpose, close liason was maintained with the officials of DMRC.
7. ACQUISITION OF PROPERTIES AND SHIFTING OF SERVICES

The flyover was to be constructed on a busy intersection in fully built-up urban environment. Shifting of some services and acquisition of certain properties, was therefore inescapable, even though the geometrics were finalised with a view to ensure minimum dislocation of the services and properties. The following are the brief details of the acquisition and re-location of properties and shifting of the services.

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Plate 12. Photograph of POT-PTFE Bearing

Plate 13. Photograph of Modular Expansion Joint

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7.1. Acquisition Shifting of Properties (i) Directorate of Estates: 20 nos. D-II type flats, CPWD enquiry office and attached residential flats, garages and a community centre taken over from Directorate of Estate and Rs. 2,43,52,000 paid to them. AIIMS: Approx 1500 Sqm of land taken over and the boundary wall of AIIMS got shifted and a payment of Rs. 62,32,900 made to AIIMS.

(ii)

(iii) Safdarjung Hospital : Approx 1200 sqm of land was taken over and an amount of Rs. 54,05,700 paid for shifting of their compound wall, garages, police post etc. (iv) Petrol Pump: A petrol pump belonging to BPCL was also shifted from the Aurobindo Marg. (v) Kashmiri Migrant Market : The market consisting of 55 shops was shifted. One Temple in the Kashmiri Market was also shifted.

(vi) Temple: One Hanuman Mandir near the boundary wall of Safdarjung Hospital was shifted. (vii) Taxi Stand: One taxi stand on the Ring Road near the Safdarjung Hospital was relocated in consultation with Traffic Police. (viii) Kiosks: There were ten kiosks/stalls located an Aurobido Marg and allotted by NDMC which were fouling with the alignment of the project and the same were, in turn, got shifted. 7.2. Shifting of Services A large number of services were required to be shifted. These included telephone cables of MTNL, gas pipe line of Gas Authority of India Ltd., 33KV and 11KV High-Tension Lines of Delhi Vidyut Board, Storm water, Sewer, Water Supply and Electrical lines of NDMC, unfiltered water supply line of CPWD and 600 mm diameter water supply line of Delhi Jal Board. Separate corridor for shifting of the services was chalked out and the path to be followed by each service to be shifted was clearly indicated. Consequently 14 different services could be shifted without one agency encroaching on the space allocated to other. Plate 14 shows the corridor planned for shifting of the various services. Plates 15 and 16 depict under ground electrical cables and pipes and telephone cables which were shifted. It may not be out of place to mention that the delay in completing the project was caused by the inordinate time taken in shifting of the various services. Table 1 shows the brief details of each service which was shifted and the cost of its shifting.

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Plate 14. Figure showing Corridor for shifting of services

Plate 15. Water supply lines & cables

Plate 16. Ducts for telephone cables

8. MECHANISED CONSTRUCTION

In order to ensure speedy and good quality construction, emphasis was on extensive use of modern machines. A list of machines deployed for this project is given below. 1. 2. 3. Automatic & Computerised Concrete Batching Plants, each of 30 cum/ hour capacity Concrete Paver for rigid pavement Mobile Concrete pumps

CONSTRUCTION OF GRADE SEPARATORS AT THE INTERSECTION OF RING ROAD AND AUROBINDO MARG, NEW DELHI A SUCCESS STORY
TABLE 1. SERVICES SHIFTED S. No. 1. Agency
FROM THE

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CONSTRUCTION AREA Amt. of Estimate for shifting

Affected Service

Delhi Vidyut Board

i) ii)

33 KV 11 KV O F Cables (TX-BCP) Local Cables Junction Cables Cables in J/Bagh Cables in CH/Puri

i) Rs. 2,05,59,500 Rs. 80,03,234 ii) Rs. 80,03,234 Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. 9,00,000 24,83,429 3,21,17,626 66,88,342 14,34,438

2.

Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.

i) ii) iii) iv) v)

3. 4.

Delhi Jal Board NDMC (Civil)

800 mm dia water main i)

Rs. 71,23,885

600 mm dia i) Rs. 3,09,18,650 Water main ii) Storm Water drainage ii) Rs. 93,35,000 iii) Sewer lines iii) Rs. 33,22,900 Service cables i) Rs. 34,29,500 ii) Rs. 1,54,58,500 Rs. 64,85,000

5.

NDMC (Electrical) CPWD

6.

Unfiltered Water Supply Line 300 mm Gas line Total

7.

GAIL

GAIL shifted the line on their own Rs. 14,62,60,004

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Stationery Concrete pumps WMM Paver Bitumen Paver Transit Mixers Rotary, Piling Rig Excavators Vibratory rollers Static rollers Compressors Cranes Motor grader Generators Tippers

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17. 18. 19.

Plate compactors Tractors Vibrators

9. PHASES OF CONSTRUCTION

The construction was phased in such a way that least disturbance was caused to the traffic. Plate 17 shows some major activities, which were taken up in the first phase without any diversion of traffic. The piling for all the pile groups (except one group in the middle of Aurobindo Marg for the curved flyover), two abutments and three piers was completed without causing any diversion of traffic. Simultaneously construction of retaining walls in east and west Kidwai Nagar was taken up without any traffic diversion. Demolition of the affected structures was started taken up. Erection of staging and shuttering for the span A2-P4-P3 plus the cantilever was also side by side. In this manner all the possible activities, which could be taken up without disturbing the Aurobindo Marg were started.

Plate 17. Major construction activities taken up without any traffic diversion

A localised diversion was made on the Aurobindo Marg to take up the construction of the the pier P2 of the curved flyover as this pier was right in middle of the Aurobindo Marg. Casting of the span A2-P4-P3 and the cantilever was done. These activities are depicted in Plate 18.

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Plate 18. Construction of Pier P-2 with local diversion of Aurobindo Marg

In the next phase, one carriageway of Aurobindo Marg going towards AIIMS was locally diverted between P4 & P3 below the already constructed span in 8/2001 so that work on the next span P3-P2 could be started, Plate 19. The casting of second portion of span P2-P3 along with cantilever towards P1 of the curved flyover was completed in 9/2001. In order to construct the last span of the curved flyover between abutment A1, pier P1, and the cantilever towards P2, the carriageway of Aurobindo Marg going towards INA was diverted below the already cast span P2-P3 as shown Plate 20.

Plate 19. Local diversion of Aurobindo Marg for casting span P3-P2

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Plate 20. Local diversion of Aurobindo Marg for casting of span P1-A1

In order to construct the skew flyover, the Ring Road had to be locally diverted towards North as pile foundations were to be cast in the area occupied by the Ring Road. With local diversion of Ring Road, piling for both the abutments of Skew Flyover SA-2 and SA-1, pier SP3 and SP2 was started. This was followed by casting of the pile caps and piers as well. In order to manage the traffic, only piling was done for the pier SP2. The pile cap was deliberately not cast as the traffic was planned to be diverted on this location after completing of piling. The construction of pile cap at this location would have wasted time as the entire area would have to be back-filled, compacted and the entire WBM/WMM and road surfacing would have to be done afresh. The construction of pile group SP1 could not be done as the traffic of Aurobindo Marg was running at this location. In order to take-up the construction of SP1, the traffic of Aurobindo Marg was locally diverted over the location of pile group SP2 (where the pile cap had not been cast to facilitate the diversion of traffic). Plate 21 depicts the construction activities done with local diversion of Ring Road and Aurobindo Marg. In order to construct the underpass, the Aurobindo Marg was locally diverted side wise and excavation started. The portion of the underpass below the skew flyover was excavated first and the rigid pavement completed. The staging for the 30 m long span with 8 m cantilevers on both sides was erected and casting done there after. Simultaneously, rigid pavement in the remaining underpass was also completed. After this casting, the traffic was opened on the underpass in the month of January, 2003. By doing this, the traffic on Aurobindo

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Marg, which was moving sideways between the priers SP2-SP3 and SP1-SA1, came to its final position below the span SP1-SP2. The casting of remaining portions (apart from already cast cantilevers) of the spans SP2-SP3 and SP1SA1 was completed thereafter.

Plate 21. Construction activities of skew flyover with diversions

10. PEDESTRIAN SUBWAYS

Two pedestrian subways have been provided as part of the interchange scheme to facilitate movement of pedestrians across the Ring Road. For crossing the Aurobindo Marg, pedestrian subways were already available in the vicinity of the flyover. The subways have been provided with shops so that they become more user friendly and pedestrians are encouraged to use the subways. The subways have also been provided with mechanical ventilation. The subways consist of 450 mm thick raft foundation with walls tapering from 500 mm to 250 mm at the top. The roof has tapering beams and slab arrangement with the 600 mm deep beam and 300 mm thick slab cast integrally with the beams. The subways have been finished with Dholpur and Agra stone on the exterior and provided with 6 mm thick multi-walled polycarbonate roofing over tubular frame. The inside of the subways is provided with Kota and Marble flooring and ceramic tiles on the walls.
11. UNDERPASS ALONG AUROBINDO MARG

The depressed underpass along the Aurobindo Marg has been provided with a rigid pavement with the following specifications.

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M-35 Grade plain cement concrete Under layer of 1:3:6 PCC, 150 mm thick. Separation membrane of HDPE, 125 microns thick Panel size of 4.5 m x 3.75 m Thickness of 300 mm for all the panels. Transverse contraction joint, 100 mm deep, 3 to 4 mm wide with the top 22 + 1 mm depth having a width of 10 to 12 mm. Longitudinal butt joint, 100 mm deep, 3 to 4 mm wide with the top 17 + 1 mm depth having a width of 6 to 8 mm. 32 mm dia MS/TMT bars, 500 mm long @ 300 mm C/C at Contraction / Expansion joints 12 mm dia TMT bars, 550 mm long @ 500 mm C/C with the central 150 mm coated with bituminous paint for the longitudinal butt joints Hot poured elastomeric sealant (Colpor 200 of FOSROC) for sealing of the transverse and longitudinal joints. The regular panels have been constructed with plain cement concrete but the irregular shaped panels at the curves have been provided with steel reinforcement. The rigid pavement has been laid with the help of concrete paver as well as with screed vibrator. The brooming of the surface has been done manually, with a wire brush fixed over a long pole. Curing was done by ponding of water. The joints were cut mechanically after 3 to 4 days of casting with the help of a joint cutting machine. Plate 22 shows the concreting of rigid pavement in progress. Plate 23 shows the mechanical cutting of joints.

Plate 22. Concrete paver for rigid Pavement

Plate 23. Cutting of joints in rigid Pavement

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12. ROADWORKS

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The slip roads have been provided with a 150 mm thick with GSB (granular sub base), over laid with 300 mm thick base course of WMM (wet mix macadam), Plates 24 and 25. For the diversion roads provision was made for 300 mm thick WBM in place of WMM adopted for slip roads. Material for granular sub base has been laid with a motor grader on compacted earth base. The thickness of granular sub-base course is 150 mm and it consists of 40 mm nominal size aggregate, 10 mm moorum and earth in the ratio of 40 per cent, 35 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

Plate 24. Motor grader spreading GSB for road work

Plate 25. WMM being laid over GSB

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The sub base course of GSB in overlaid with a layer of 300 mm thick wet mix macadam in layers, each of 150 mm compacted thickness as shown in Plate 26. The WMM consists of 40 mm nominal size aggregate (40 per cent), 10 mm nominal size aggregate (35 per cent) and stone dust (25 per cent).

Plate 26. Laying of BM by Paver

The WMM layer is covered by a layer of 75 mm Bituminous Macadam and a wearing course of 50 mm thick D.A.C. In the flyover portion, a layer of 40 mm thick D.A.C. was provided followed by 25 mm thick mastic asphalt. 60/ 70-grade bitumen was used for BM and DAC works and 85/25 grade for mastic works. The bituminous macadam and DAC has been laid with mechanical pavers as well as sensor pavers. The compaction has been done with static and vibratory rollers.
13. DRAINAGE AND GROUND WATER RECHARGING

The flyover is spread in an area of more than 4 hectares with a number of loops and green spaces in between. The storm water drainage has been designed to be gravity based, as it is the most economical and foolproof system. Trunk mains have been laid along the periphery of the flyover scheme, i.e., along the four outer slip roads namely (i) road from INA to South Extn. (ii) South Extn. to Green Park (iii) Green Park to Dhaula Kuan and (iv) Dhaula Kuan to INA.

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The main peripheral trunk mains collect the discharge and dispose the storm water off to the nearby Kushak Nallah. In order to bring the storm water to those peripheral mains, a net work of open drains, covered rectangular drains and pipe drains has been laid. Drains have also been provided along the deck slab of the curved and skew flyover to collect the surface water and down take pipes have been provided on the abutment to bring this water down to the main drainage system. The underpass is the most critical from drainage point of view as it has been depressed by approximately 2.5 m. For the underpass also, the storm water will be disposed off first by gravity through 0.5 m wide rectangular drains with removable covers to facilitate cleaning. These drains run parallel to the underpass on both sides. Recharging bores are being provided to collect the water from these drains so that he storm water is used for charging of the ground water as recommended by the Central Ground Water Board. As a further foolproof arrangement, the storm water shall be pumped from these shafts in case the recharging bores are not capable of transferring the water to the ground water table. Separate grids for pumping main have been laid. In order to drain the pedestrian subways, pumping arrangement has been provided.
14. LIGHTING

Efficient lighting of the interchange area is a must for safe movement of traffic and pedestrians. The design tends to demand more attention due to complicated configuration where individual carriageways must have light of adequate illumination level and uniformity ratio. This has been provided by a judicious mix of 13 nos. of 30 m high light masts with conventional street lights along slip roads in two quadrants. The landscaping has been planned in such a way that no shadow reaches the carriageways even when the plants grow up. Special care has been taken in the areas below the flyovers. These high masts and the pedestrian subways are partially lit up through a emergency generator in care of failure of electricity. A dedicated sub-station building has been provided for these services. The area below the deck slab is lit with lights fixed on top of the piers.
15. ROAD SIGNAGES

The interchange caters to 13 directional movements over two flyovers, one underpass and a set of loops running at different levels. In order to ensure effective guidance to the traffic using the interchange, a scheme of overhead and curb mounted informative road signs was devised and the road signs were fixed in a planned manner. The foundations of the overhead road sign structures were integrated with the main flyover structure or the retaining walls depending on the location of the sign. An innovative architectural design for the road signs

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was specially designed which consisted of a 350 mm dia M.S. pipes for vertical posts and the same pipe was used in the horizontal direction instead of the usual truss being provided elsewhere, Plate 27. The signboards were hung from the top pipe and the entire structure looks very sleek and un-obstructing. The signboards have been provided with high intensity retro reflective sheeting pasted over 2 mm thick aluminium sheet.

Plate 27. Photograph of over head signboards 16. ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS

A number of trees were affected by the interchange configuration. A summary of all the affected trees was prepared indicating the species, height and girth of each tree. For this the position of each tree was marked on a plan and was assigned a unique number. The trees were got inspected by the Forest department and as per their recommendations, a total of 147 trees (113 in phase I and 34 in phase II) were transplanted and 156 trees (150 in phase I and 6 in phase II) were cut in order to accommodate the flyover configuration, Photo 28. For every tree that was cut, 10 trees were planted at other locations as compensatory plantation. A photograph of the completed flyover is at Plate 29.
17. CONCLUSION

The planning as well as construction of this flyover was a real challenge. Due to its typical location with availability of space in only two quadrants, flitting in design satisfying the requirements of signal free movement in all directions and a low rise structure was a daunting task. This was achieved by having a design competition for the first time in the country. With the concept plan ready and further improvement to suit the requirement of geometrics, the second challenge was to construct the entire scheme on the ground which had services

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Plate 28. Photograph of transplanted trees

Plate 29. A photograph of the completed flyover

criss-crossing in all the directions and a number of structures belonging to different agencies. This was achieved by identifying each service and property that had to be shifted and then pursuing with their owning departments to submit estimates and shift their utilities/properties. This was a gigantic task in itself as already explained in para 7 of this Paper. The third challenge was to construct the scheme with least disturbance to the running traffic. This was also done by a meticulous planning of the construction sequence and by maintaining a close liaison with the traffic police. As a result, the problem of traffic jams that is routinely encountered at the construction sites, was avoided. In fact, the traffic signal was removed as early as August 2002, by opening the curved flyover and diverting the right turning traffic. In spite of the fact that 14 services were required to be shifted by various departments like DVB, DJB, MTNL, NDMC, GAIL over which PWD has no

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control and that a large number of structures like Kashmiri Migrant Shops, Temples, Kiosks, Flats, Community Centre, etc. had to be shifted/demolished, the project was completed in a period of 41 months against the stipulated time of 30 months.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Authors would like to express their gratitude to Shri K.B. Rajoria, Engineer-in-Chief (Retd), PWD (NCTD) for having provided excellent planning inputs for the project during his tenure as Chief Engineer and Engineer-in-Chief. Thanks are also due to the members of the Board of Assessors and Infrastructure Committee in rendering help to evolve the shape of the project, the cooperation extended by the various services departments in relocating their respective services is also acknowledged gratefully. The authors would also like to thank M/s Mathur & Kapre, main Consultants, M/s Tandon Consultants Pvt. Ltd., Structural designers, M/s Bridge & Structural Engineering, proof designers, M/s CRAPHTS Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., traffic and transportation consultants and M/s UPSBC, the main contractors for the project. The excellent cooperation extended by the Delhi Traffic Police in managing the traffic on one of the busiest road intersection in Delhi is also worth mentioning. Lots of all, thanks are also extended to the press in having brought out news feature in the newspaper from time to time and to the members of the public who used the intersection during construction for having put up with difficulty situations amounting out of traffic jams.