Work on new bypass near VIT proceeding rapidly

Construction of new bypass between Kangeyanallur and Sathuvachari in Vellore moving quickly with heavy weight testing underway.

Work on a new bypass between Kangeyanallur village near VIT and Sathuvachari, a distance of around 3 km, within Vellore Corporation limits, is moving at a faster pace as testing of base pillars along the route with heavy weight has begun.

Officials of State Highways, which executes the work, said that on an average, each base pillar should withstand around 240 tonnes of weight on it. For testing purposes, 2.5 times higher weight was kept on each base pillar to test its durability.

In other words, 600 tonnes of weight, mostly sand bags, were kept on it for testing. “The entire new bypass will have around 170 pillars to support the carriageway. Testing of pillars is crucial as a large number of vehicles including goods laden lorries will use the new stretch once completed,” R. Poovarasan, Assistant Engineer (AE), Department of Highways, told The Hindu. 

Accompanied by S. Krishnasamy, Superintending Engineer (SE), State Highways (Tiruvannamalai), an expert team led by S. Vijayalakshmi, Assistant Director, Highways Research Station (HRS), Villupuram region, inspected testing of pillars. The team also inspected construction of retaining wall for the bridge as part of the new work.

The ₹90 crore four-lane stretch will be 15 metres wide including 2.5 metres of median. It will also help more vehicles to use the route than the existing two flyovers across Palar that connect Vellore town with Katpadi. As per estimates, once completed, the new bypass stretch can be used by at least 17,250 vehicles every day.

The new four-lane bridge, which is part of the new bypass road, will be 475 metres long and 15 metres wide. It will be at least three metres higher than the existing Katpadi flyovers, which was built in 2009, to prevent any damage to its structure and inundation to its carriageway. In other words, the bridge will be built at a height of 20 ft from the dry river bed. For residents and motorists, the new bypass road will provide the shortest route to go between Katpadi and Vellore towns. Transport vehicles and buses can take this route to reach Chennai - Bengaluru Highway (NH 44) at Sathuvachari by skipping congested Katpadi flyovers. Traveling time on the new route can save at least 45 minutes, highway officials said.

Currently, work on construction of two minor bridges, 20 culverts and retaining wall of the high level bridge are under progress as part of the bypass work, which will be completed by 2025.