Anna flyover turns 50, goes strong handling huge volume of traffic

Chennai: Chennai’s familiar landmark that got etched in people’s minds and ignited the imagination of Tamil filmmakers due to its unique design, the Anna flyover, on Saturday completed a half-century of service and is still going strong. This structure at the arterial junction, connecting various places in the metro, handles a huge volume of traffic, over one lakh vehicles in five hours now, as per official estimates. But in the initial years, when the city was not bustling with traffic, it appeared to be deserted.

Several films portrayed the flyover, which was then named Gemini Flyover or the Gemini Circle. The “Vanna poongavanam” song in the film “Eeramana Roajave” and popular actor Prabhudeva dancing to the tune of “Oorvasi Oorvasi” song in a bus atop the flyover and scores of other movie scenes have been shot on the flyover or close to it.

This dual-armed grade separator is Chennai’s first flyover and third in the country then and also the longest one. It was named after the Gemini Studios, which was later demolished. Two identical statues of a syce leading a horse to commemorate the ban on horse racing in Tamil Nadu grace either side of the circle, beneath the flyover. It was built in 21 months’ time at a cost of about Rs 66 lakh and was dedicated to the public on July 1, 1973.

The foundation for the 800 m flyover with a curving trumpet arm was laid by former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in 1971 and he inaugurated it two years later. It was named after Karunanidhi’s mentor and another former Chief Minister C N Annadurai. The 48-foot wide flyover was the first in the south and it has become part of the state’s history.

According to Chennai’s historian, V Sriram, the Chennai Corporation engineer Haji Meeran Sahib designed the flyover in 1948 and 25 years later, he was around to execute it. He not only saved the government Rs 9 lakh but also completed the project three months ahead of schedule.

Meeran had given a graphic description of the design in an article, says Sriram who took to Twitter to quote the engineer. The special feature of the design is in the conceptual development of the structural form of the bridge decking. “The bridge deck is a multiple hollow-box slab, made up of precast elements. An ingenious intertwining arrangement of stirrups from the precast elements with the main reinforcement and anchored into the in-situ concrete ensures complete monolithic action of the precast elements for the full deck and thus resulting in a high degree of lateral distribution of live load.

“The adoption of a hollow section for the bridge deck and the high lateral distribution due to the special detailing has resulted in enormous saving in steel and concrete. Incidentally, this method of construction is the first of its kind in our country and it is the writer’s own patented system,” he said quoting Meeran. “Imagine the foresight of the phenom called #Kalaignar (late CM Karunanidhi) who built this flyover 50 years ago,” Industries Minister T R B Rajaa tweeted posting a video of the flyover.