Steel Authority of India limited, (SAIl) has bagged an order valued at Rs1.32 crore from the Municipal Corporation of Chennai to provide stainless steel cladding for the existing barriers and pillars of the flyover at Dr. Radhakrishnan Road junction and TTK Road in the city.
Encasement with stainless steel will not only bring about savings in maintenance and replacement costs for the corporation for a long period of time but it will also add aesthetic value to the flyover, officials informed.SAIl will provide the cladding material from its Salem Steel Plant (SSP) in Tamil Nadu. It will also fabricate and install the barrier profiles on the flyover over a length of around 1,040 metres.
As per the agreement signed earlier this month for this prestigious job, the work has commenced earlier this week in the presence of Chennai Mayor Saidai Duraiswamy, Tamil Nadu Minister for Social Welfare Valarmathi and senior corporation officials. The corporation has plans to take similar measures with respect to the other flyovers in the city to generate savings on maintenance or refurbishment.
SSP is supplying stainless steel in the grade of AISI 316l in 1.2 mm, 2 mm and 2.5 mm thicknesses in sheet form in No. 4 finish with PVC coating. A conversion agent appointed by SAIl will undertake necessary fabrication operations as per the dimensional requirements and make the profiles available for erection at site, following which the encasing work on the barriers and pillars of the flyover will commence.
The 1.2 mm thick stainless steel sheets will be used to clad the horizontal members (barriers) of rectangular cross-section 100x50 mm and the vertical members (pillars) of 100x100 mm cross section for the entire length of the flyover on both sides. The 2 mm-thick material will be used to encase the washer-type cover plates at the joints and the 2.5 mm steel will be used for the top caps and bottom pedestals. The horizontal and vertical members shall be fastened by TIG welding.