Gurgaon: Part of Hero Honda Chowk flyover ‘sinks’, lane sealed

Gurgaon: A 20m stretch of the Jaipur-Delhi carriageway of the Hero Honda Chowk flyover has sunk, raising concerns about its structural integrity.
While NHAI has termed it a “depression,” the safety of this flyover, constructed just seven years ago, has been under question for a long time now. One lane of the flyover has been cordoned off and NHAI has deployed marshals for traffic management.

According to an NHAI official, the depression was detected during a routine inspection.Iron bars underneath the structure were also visible at some places.
The highways authority has set up an expert committee to conduct a thorough examination of the damage.
“A portion of the Hero Honda Chowk has developed a depression, and as a precautionary measure, we have put up barricades on the affected section to ensure no untoward incident while we assess the situation. Marshals have been deployed to manage traffic flow and minimise inconvenience. A three-member expert committee is examining the matter. They will investigate the cause of the depression and evaluate the overall structural integrity of the flyover. Based on their findings, which will be submitted in a week, the necessary repair work will be undertaken,” an NHAI official said.
This is not the first time that this carriageway has come under scrutiny. The 1.4km flyover was sanctioned on August 28, 2014 and built at a cost of Rs 197 crore to help reduce snarls at the Hero Honda intersection. It opened to traffic in July 2017.
A concrete chunk fell from the flyover for the first time in less than a year — in April 2018 — and in May 2019, a hole was formed on the same side.
An FIR was registered on May 25 the same year under sections 336 (endangering life) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC after RTI activist Ramesh Kumar filed a police complaint.
Unidentified officials of NHAI and the agencies involved in the construction work were named in the FIR. Investigators subsequently sent samples of the construction material to a laboratory for testing. Meanwhile, experts were called in for an audit. During the probe, it was found that substandard quality of construction material was used to build the flyover.
The committee had recommended that the flyover be strengthened to prevent such an incident from occurring again.
In Oct 2019, the flyover was closed for repair, which included deck slab restoration work and took five months to complete. The work involved putting panels in place that were then connected with epoxy to strengthen the slab.
In Sept 2022, the flyover was again closed for six days for span load testing, which involves gauging the extent to which the road span can handle heavy weights.
Last year, police arrested two officials of the agency responsible for monitoring the construction work. The two were granted bail.
Asked about the repeated instances of the flyover getting damaged, the NHAI official said a detailed probe is required to understand structural deficiencies. “The flyover was constructed over seven years ago. The contractor has gone to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), and the officials overseeing the project have been transferred. We are also looking into the details of past repairs carried out and the cause of damage on this flyover. The committee will conduct a holistic examination and will take appropriate action based on its findings,” the official added.