Mumbai: Work to install additional altimeter barriers at King’s Circle Road Over Bridge (ROB) has been completed to prevent further accidents where vehicles hit the underpass of the railway bridge. Central Railway not only added two guardrails at Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road at both ends of ROB, but also repaired the old guardrails. The total cost of the project is close to Rs 5 million.
The newly installed roadblocks can control vehicles with a speed of 60 kilometers per hour and a load of 30 tons. However, CR officials said that these obstacles are not the final solution, but only a preventive measure. “The erection of altimeter barriers can be used as a temporary measure to reduce such incidents,” said a senior railway official. A permanent solution would require complete restriction of access by vehicles over 4 m in height.
Even traffic police feel the same way, having issued a circular in 2018 prohibiting any vehicle above 3.8 meters above the road surface from entering below altimeters erected on either side of the Kings Circle railway bridge. The notice, a copy of which was published with the Free Press Magazine, highlighted the potential danger to railroad bridges whenever altimeter barriers are damaged by higher-sized vehicles. It added that any damage to the girder would cause the train carrying passengers to derail, which would be a major disaster. Since January 2019, more than 20 cases of damage to height gauge guardrails have been reported.
When asked how to stop such recurring accidents, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Mahesh Patil said, “As instances of vehicles hitting obstacles are increasing, solutions are urgently needed; this can also lead to major accidents . We will study the whole problem and come up with plans, such as banning heavy vehicles or diverting them to other roads. We will come up with appropriate solutions so that the lives of citizens are not at risk.”
Erection of altimeter barriers can be used as a temporary measure to reduce the occurrence of such incidents. As a permanent solution, access to vehicles with a height of more than 4 m needs to be completely restricted. senior railway official
We will look at the whole issue and come up with plans, such as banning heavy vehicles or moving them to other roads.
traffic police
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