The elevated expressway has turned an accident-prone zone
Mind your riding on the Electronics City Elevated Expressway especially if visibility is low. K.R. Suresh (name changed) learnt it the hard way. Last week, a biker rammed his scooter the front wheel got stuck between an expansion joint, causing a serial accident.
“I saw another biker fall after his bike’s front wheel got stuck in the expansion joint. Inquiries revealed that he was the fourth biker to have a fall accident that morning. It has turned into an accident-prone zone,” Mr. Suresh said.
The expansion joint, technically called elastomeric joint, essentially has rubber between two median-like blocks, installed to act as a cushion for the expansion and contraction of the asphalt surface owing to weather conditions. Over multiple cycles of expansion and contraction, the vertically-placed expansion joint on the expressway has developed a gap large enough for wheels of bikes to get stuck, leading to multiple non-fatal accidents. Suhas N., a techie, said during foggy mornings, the visibility is very low and multiple accidents occur near the lay-bay.
“It all depends on the vehicle behind you, when your bike’s wheel is stuck. Usually, most vehicles are speeding on the expressway. If there is a bus speeding behind you, it may turn really fatal,” Mr. Suhas said.
Capt. Baldev Singh, of Bangalore Elevated Tollway Ltd., conceded that multiple accidents were reported near the lay-bay, especially during rains. “We have put up temporary barricades to prevent bikers from going into the lay-bay, but they still do. We are working on replacing the expansion joint,” he said.
Replacing expansion joints
In most of the flyovers constructed by the BBMP and BDA, the expansion joints are placed horizontally slicing the roadway, which even in the event of expansion would not lead to a situation like at Electronics City Elevated Expressway. However, the expansion joints need to be placed vertically in the direction of the traffic flow near lay-bays, and at diversions on flyovers.
K.T. Nagaraj, chief engineer, BBMP projects, said flyovers were re-asphalted and most expansion joints replaced in a recent drive. “Some of the expansion joints on Sirsi Circle flyover had widened, so we replaced them,” he said.
Mind your riding on the Electronics City Elevated Expressway especially if visibility is low. K.R. Suresh (name changed) learnt it the hard way. Last week, a biker rammed his scooter the front wheel got stuck between an expansion joint, causing a serial accident.
“I saw another biker fall after his bike’s front wheel got stuck in the expansion joint. Inquiries revealed that he was the fourth biker to have a fall accident that morning. It has turned into an accident-prone zone,” Mr. Suresh said.
The expansion joint, technically called elastomeric joint, essentially has rubber between two median-like blocks, installed to act as a cushion for the expansion and contraction of the asphalt surface owing to weather conditions. Over multiple cycles of expansion and contraction, the vertically-placed expansion joint on the expressway has developed a gap large enough for wheels of bikes to get stuck, leading to multiple non-fatal accidents. Suhas N., a techie, said during foggy mornings, the visibility is very low and multiple accidents occur near the lay-bay.
“It all depends on the vehicle behind you, when your bike’s wheel is stuck. Usually, most vehicles are speeding on the expressway. If there is a bus speeding behind you, it may turn really fatal,” Mr. Suhas said.
Capt. Baldev Singh, of Bangalore Elevated Tollway Ltd., conceded that multiple accidents were reported near the lay-bay, especially during rains. “We have put up temporary barricades to prevent bikers from going into the lay-bay, but they still do. We are working on replacing the expansion joint,” he said.
Replacing expansion joints
In most of the flyovers constructed by the BBMP and BDA, the expansion joints are placed horizontally slicing the roadway, which even in the event of expansion would not lead to a situation like at Electronics City Elevated Expressway. However, the expansion joints need to be placed vertically in the direction of the traffic flow near lay-bays, and at diversions on flyovers.
K.T. Nagaraj, chief engineer, BBMP projects, said flyovers were re-asphalted and most expansion joints replaced in a recent drive. “Some of the expansion joints on Sirsi Circle flyover had widened, so we replaced them,” he said.