The Hindu 15.04.2013
Bridges to be sheathed in steel, covered in colour
A makeover has been proposed for bridges and flyovers in
the city, which will soon be adorned with stainless steel railings and
artwork.
The Chennai Corporation has begun a study on
various options to improve the look of these crucial structures, to
enhance the overall aesthetics of several localities. Bridges and
flyovers in the city are likely to sport a new look with stainless steel
railings and artwork. The Chennai Corporation has commenced a study on
various options for improving aesthetics on such structures to boost the
visual impact in the localities.
Stainless steel
railings will come up on most of the 262 bridges and flyovers in the
city, including the 65 high-level bridges and 13 grade-separators
maintained by the Corporation.
Most of these are
along major bus routes and the enhancements will be carried out based on
opinions from traffic police personnel and traffic planners.
In
addition to bridges and grade separators, the Corporation also
maintains 31 box culverts, 81 slab culverts, 11 rail overbridges, 14
rail underbridges, six pedestrian subways, six causeways and 35
footbridges.
Such structures along key routes will
also be covered in the beautification drive. Through this initiative,
the civic body is expected to put in place a lasting solution to the
inadequate maintenance of essential structures. At present, the routine
maintenance of bridges is carried out by respective zonal offices and
the Corporation’s bridges department looks after structural maintenance.
An earlier proposal by the civic body, made a few years ago, envisaged using colourful tiles to beautify subways and bridges.
Tiles
were used on a pedestrian footpath along a bridge on Binny Road in
2009. Structures such as Parthasarathy Bridge in Mint, Nelson Manickam
Road in Nungambakkam, and a pedestrian subway near Kannagi Statue on
Kamarajar Salai also got a makeover a few years ago.
Additional lighting and stainless steel handrails were also provided to some of these structures then.
