How this corridor saved time, money

New Delhi: The Prem Bari to Azadpur elevated road corridor along the Ring Road, which was inaugurated last week, is one of the rare examples of infrastructure in the city which was completed for substantially less than its initial estimate. Against a proposed cost of Rs 247 crore, the 1.6km-long stretch was completed for only Rs 143 crore.
Officials said similarly, the remaining three stretches in this elevated corridor will cost only 50-65% of the original estimate.
The savings were largely a result of a new design followed by the public works department. The PWD minister, Satyendar Jain, said in addition, the completion of work before deadline was another factor that contributed to the savings. The elevated corridor project was initiated by the Sheila Dikshit government in 2013 but it gained momentum after the new AAP government took charge in February this year.
PWD engineer-in-chief, Sarvagya Srivastava, confirmed that the new design—a single pillar of 3m by 3m supporting the 24m-wide deck—resulted in a saving of at least 25% of the initial estimate. “Against a normal expenditure of Rs 60,000 per sqm, we spent only Rs 42,000 to Rs 43,000 per sqm by using the new design,” he said.
To create the structure, a 6m-wide central segment called spine was first suspended over a pillar. After this, two segments of 9m each were suspended on the either side of the spine. These three pieces were then connected through cables in a process known as ‘stressing’ to make one monolithic structure. And because the main structure was light, the resultant pillar on which it had to be supported could be reduced in size.
Sources added that another major work of shifting utilities, for which there is a component in estimates for each project, was saved as Metro was carrying out work simultaneously, and PWD did not have to spend on the utility shifting separately.
Another minor saving was when a foot overbridge was replaced with an at-grade crossing, an option preferred by most mobility experts to ease road usage for pedestrians. For the construction agency, there was also a reduction in cement and steel prices during the course of construction.
Of the remaining three stretches, the Mangolpuri-Madhuban and the Madhuban-Mukarba chowk stretches will open by December 31, a deadline fixed by Jain. The third stretch, from Meera Bagh to Vikaspuri, will take a little longer.
Once the 23.6km-long Vikaspuri-Wazirabad stretch is made signal free, the travel time on this stretch will come down from 1 hour, 15 minutes during non-peak hours to about 25 minutes.