- Advertisement -
RAWALPINDI, Dec 09 (APP): The work on Kachehri flyover and underpasses is getting momentum gradually and getting visible acceleration as the engineering workforce has successfully cast the first deck-slab of the 567-metre Iftikhar Janjua Underpass, making it the first completely roofed structure among the ongoing flyovers and underpasses.
Guide beams at the same location have already reached full completion, while 648 out of 840 piles have been driven and drilling continues on the remaining site area.
At the heavily congested Katchery Chowk, work on both the 878-metre flyover and the 530-metre underpass is also getting momentum. According to the official updated details received by APP, all 101 piles of the flyover stand completed, four of the eleven pile caps (at piers 4, 5, 6 and 7) have been cast, and steel reinforcement for pier shafts is progressing round the clock. On the underpass, guide beams on both grids were declared 100 per cent complete.
At Jinnah Park, the 531-metre flyover has seen all 24 piles and all five pile caps completed, while steel fixing for pier shafts is now in full flow. Seventy metres of the 258-metre retaining wall have been constructed with bed and lean concrete largely complete.
Similarly, the adjacent 480-metre Jinnah Park Underpass has completed 300 metres of guide beams, 391 of 446 piles, 140 metres of capping beam and 120 metres of NJ barrier steel fixing.
Rana Qamar Ali, EXEN Punjab Highways Department while talking to APP on Tuesday, said that with the first full deck slab now in place and girder production crossing the 70 per cent mark at the project’s longest flyover, the work has been clearly shifted into high-gear superstructure mode, setting the stage for a model transformation of Rawalpindi’s traffic flow in the coming months.
He said that the Punjab government, under the directions of CM Maryam Nawaz Sharif, is executing a flagship urban infrastructure package for Rawlapindi comprising multiple flyovers and underpasses at the city’s most congested junctions. He said that top priority is set to ensure timely completion and highest quality standards.
After the completion, the project will permanently eliminate chronic traffic bottlenecks at Katchery Chowk, Iftikhar Janjua Road and Jinnah Park, significantly reduce travel time for citizens, enhance road safety, and provide a modern, congestion-free corridor.
Collectively approved by the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP), these projects bear a combined estimated cost over Rs13.3343 billion.