Miseries of commuters on Expressway likely to end in May

Islamabad : The miseries of commuters travelling on the Expressway, especially on the segment up and down between Korang Bridge (Gulberg Green) and the PWD inter-change, are likely to come to an end by the end of April or May this year!

The Project Director engaged in work on this project while talking to 'The News' expressed hope that this segment of the project, which is around 4 kilometre up and down from Korang nullah bridge to PWD interchange, will be completed by the end of April or early May, 2023.

He said that work on the most difficult part, that is laying girders on the piers has already started and so far seven girders have already been laid. "This is the most difficult phase to lay these girders on the piers. The bridge is 150 meter long and a total of 33 girders have to be laid on these piers which are 30 meter high from the Korang nullah bed. The piling of these piers is another 35 meter deep in the nullah bed to make those strong.

"Each girder is 50 meters long and weighs 170 ton and there is no suitable space available where a crane could be installed to lift these girders. So, a different technique is being used to lift, pull and lay these girders on the piers and it takes two to three days to lay one girder," the Project Director said. Regarding the railway bridge further ahead the Project Director said that the east side of that bridge, which is 35 meters long, will be completed by 31st January. However, the west side bridge will take at least five to six months because the old one, built in 1960s need to be completely dismantled/demolished to construct the new one.

About widening of the road to five-lane each side, he said that the rigid concrete part of the road for the heavy traffic is being constructed at a satisfactory pace. "Once this rigid lanes, which are actually meant for heavy traffic, will be completed, all traffic will be shifted on these and after that the existing two-lane normal road will be raised to meet the level of the rigid lanes," the Project Director explained.

The Director Public Relations of the CDA, Asif Ali, when contacted said that work is progressing smoothly on this segment of the project while work physical work on the next segment, from PWD to T-Chowk on the Grand Trunk (GT) Road has also been launched. About the delay in completion of the project the DPR CDA said that a major factor was the unusual monsoon rains which impacted the pace of work.

"Besides, it is an inter-provincial road and there is always heavy load of traffic up and down and that also slowed down the work. However, he said that the project is not delayed and it will be opened by the end of April or may be even before," Asif Ali said.