LUCKNOW, Sept. 18 -- Repairs on the damaged elevated section of the newly opened Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway are expected to conclude within the next 21 days, with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials targeting an October 10 completion date. The expressway, which has remained under intense public scrutiny due to widespread surface cracking since its inauguration, suffered a failure recently when a 2 to 2.5-metre-wide concrete slab broke off from the elevated structure near Azad Guest House in Banthra and plunged to the ground below. The collapse triggered a technical assessment to determine the cause of the concrete failure and identify any underlying structural deficiencies The incident also raised a safety question over the crash barriers lining the elevated corridor. Experts are now questioning whether the current design, anchoring and continuity of the barriers are sufficient to prevent a vehicle from breaching the edge in the event of a high-speed collision. However, chief general manager and regional officer, UP NHAI, Gautam Vishal said: "The concrete strength would be duly checked and eight days would be given to the concrete to dry." He said any news of no movement of traffic on the expressway is false; the expressway traffic is managed well but there are some diversions due to ongoing repair works. On an elevated highway, crash barriers are a critical last line of protection because any failure or inadequate containment can have more serious consequences than on a road at ground level....