Damaged road in Pimple Saudagar repaired again

  • | Saturday | 15th September, 2018

Pune: Potholes and uneven road surface near Govind Garden Chowk in Pimple Saudagar were repaired on Wednesday, days after a concrete patch on the stretch was washed away by incessant rainfall last month.BK Khose Constructions, contractor for the stretch, carried out the repair works. All other plants will open by Dasara.”The repair at Pimple Saudagar proves that such mends don’t cost much. “We had carried out work on the stretch last month as well where concrete was laid on the surface. We carried out the repair works again as soon as the bitumen mixing plants opened. “It (the cement gravel) was needed to avoid bitumen sticking to the wheels of heavy vehicles and coming off.

Pune: Potholes and uneven road surface near Govind Garden Chowk in Pimple Saudagar were repaired on Wednesday, days after a concrete patch on the stretch was washed away by incessant rainfall last month.BK Khose Constructions, contractor for the stretch, carried out the repair works. “We had carried out work on the stretch last month as well where concrete was laid on the surface. However, it was washed away after the rainfall. We carried out the repair works again as soon as the bitumen mixing plants opened. There are about 18 such plants in the area, but only two have opened so far,” Bhavin Badgujar, site engineer of the project, said.The problems on the chowk began about four months ago when the authorities started work on a four-lane overpass on the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) lane here. The BRTS had been functional for just two-and-a-half years then. As per Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, the overpass at the chowk will be similar to the one located opposite Forbes Marshall factory in Kasarwadi.When the overpass work started, many residents of the area had questioned the rationale behind commencing the work just ahead of the monsoon. While the contractor and the PCMC have argued that it helped them to get everything together when work was slow on the stretch, people have been proven right to an extent as the bitumen plants remained closed and they had to put up with the uneven surface and slippery roads.Sanjay Kashid, PCMC deputy engineer who is in-charge of the site, said, “The contractor had to buy the bitumen mix as soon as one of the plants opened. All other plants will open by Dasara.”The repair at Pimple Saudagar proves that such mends don’t cost much. In this case, the cost of the fix worked out to under 0.2% of the estimated final project cost. When people were told about it, they just couldn’t hold back asking why such repairs can’t be carried out regularly.“There are so many potholes on the roads. If it costs so less, they (the authorities) should keep fixing the potholes as soon as they appear,” Sanjay A, a resident and regular user of the road, said.Though there is still some loose gravel strewn on the road, however, the condition of the road has vastly improved. “It (the cement gravel) was needed to avoid bitumen sticking to the wheels of heavy vehicles and coming off. We let it be like that for 2-3 days. We will clean it now that the surface has dried up,” site engineer Badgujar said.PCMC deputy engineer Kashid said similar repairs will begin at other chowks and spots where potholes and bad surfaces have reappeared after the rains. “We will start the work in a week or so,” he added.Experts have said there has to be a systematic way to rebuild roads to ensure their longevity. “The laying of roads should be done in a way where the old surface bonds tightly with the new surface or (patchwork)… ,” B G Birajdar, professor, Civil Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Pune, had earlier said.

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