Slope protection work underway on 39-km Parwanoo-Solan stretch

Motorists travelling on the four-laned Parwanoo-Solan section of National Highway-5 can expect a safer ride as slope protection work is underway at various vulnerable sites, which had been eroding every monsoon.

These excavated slopes had been threatening the motorists as huge chunks of debris and boulders flowed down on the highway, leading to fatal injuries and damaged vehicles. The situation had rendered the highway risky for travelling during the monsoon.

As many as 28 critical locations, including Chakki Mor, Datiyar, tunnel near the Barog bypass and Sanawara, have been identified for slope protection by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).

Jammu-based SRM Contractors Limited has been executing the work awarded for Rs 1.45 crore earlier this year. The company has been given the liberty to undertake need-based technical interventions to ensure stability of the slope.

Shimla NHAI Project Director Anand Dahiya said 18-month period has been granted for slope rectification work on the Parwanoo-Solan section to the SRM Contractors Limited, with an additional 10-year period for handling defect liability.

He added that for the Solan-Kaithlighat stretch, a Dehradun-based Bharat Construction, has been assigned the task to carry out the slope protection work on 42 identified locations, with the work beginning in December.

The NHAI had conducted slew of studies to examine the vulnerable slopes and suggest a lasting solution. Apart from roping in slope stabilisation experts, engineers from IITs and Border Roads Organisation were asked to examine the vulnerable sites in September and October last year.

Slew of factors like hydrological data to know the quantum of rain, cloudburst cases, soil strata etc were taken into account to arrive at final observations. Later, a detailed project report was formulated.

Various engineering technologies like shotcrete and netting are being used to protect the hilly slopes. The work, which began on September 15, has gathered pace as several vulnerable sites at Saproon and tunnel near the Barog bypass were being repaired.

Maximum damage had been caused on the 39-km stretch from Parwanoo to Solan during last year’s monsoon. “The damage was substantially less this monsoon as an excavated hilly slope gradually attains its usual angle after a few monsoons and settles down,” explained a civil engineer.