KMC has closed off KPT Interchange flyover temporarily to do some minor repairs and will be undertaking more after Eid, officers told Aaj News on Monday.

“The approach slab has subsided and a gap has developed,” Azhar Ali Shah, the director-general for KMC’s Works department, said over the phone. “A gap had developed at the expansion joint.”

Executive Engineer Ishrat went to the flyover at the point where it faces Iqra University. “The approach slab has been subsiding. This is the expansion joint. It has lifted and is uneven from the oncoming traffic side,” he said in a video sent to the works team. “There’s a gutter on the other side of the expansion joint, where the traffic comes down.”

He said that there was no damage to the bridge and no risk to it. As a temporary solution, they are filling in the gap and will open it for traffic. “Later, we can cut the approach slab and take out a portion. Then we can fill it up and add a new expansion joint,” he said.

He added that it was usual or normal for the approach slab to sink due to rain water. Plus this was an old flyover. “It’s just this 3-4 inch gap after the jump where cars get a little shaken which makes people think there is danger or that the bridge is falling.”

Expansion joints have pre-fabricated teeth which allow for expansion and contraction due to temperature. The expansion joint will be replaced.

The gap created a bump, which was filled in. The suspicion is that water entered from the expansion joint and caused the slab to sink.

If you look at the flyover at the problematic section from the side, you’ll see that a barrier has cracked. The expansion joint is placed on top of it. “We have to fix the expansion joint,” said the engineer in a second video. “The broken barrier is due to the approach slab sinking. This is why the barrier has come out. We’ll have to break it down and redo it with a new approach slab.”

The flyover connects Defence Phase I and Korangi crossing.

Administrator Karachi Dr Saifur Rehman and the department of engineering surveyed the flyover. There is no danger to its structure and traffic is running normally, he said.