Page 3 - Bridges

Morbi bridge collapse was an 'act of God': Accused tells Gujarat court

A manager of the Oreva group, one of the nine persons arrested in connection with collapse of a suspension bridge in Gujarat's Morbi town, sought relief from a local court claiming the tragedy which has claimed 135 lives was an "act of God", the prosecution said on Wednesday. Chief Judicial Magistrate M J Khan had on Tuesday remanded four of the arrested accused -- two managers of the Oreva group and two sub-contractors who had repaired the ill-fated bridge -- in police custody till Saturday (November 5). The other five accused were remanded in judicial custody and sent to jail. The British-era carriageway, built on the river Machchhu, had collapsed on Sunday evening, killing 135 people, including women and children. In their defence during arguments on remand application on Tuesday, one of the Oreva managers had sought relief on the ground that he was just doing the job given to him by the company and the tragedy was merely an "act of God", public prosecutor HS Panchal told ...

Mamata Banerjee demands SC-monitored probe into Morbi bridge collapse

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday demanded a Supreme Court monitored judicial probe into the recent bridge collapse in Morbi, Gujarat, that killed over 130 people.

Morbi bridge ropes were not replaced, only repainted: Public prosecutor

The First Class Judicial Magistrate on November 1 granted four-day remand of two managers and two workers to the police

Morbi bridge collapse: Gujarat observes state-wide mourning for victims

Civic bodies in Ahmedabad and Surat held condolence meetings as Gujarat observed state-wide mourning on Wednesday to pay homage to the victims of the Morbi bridge collapse tragedy. Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was present at the condolence meet organised by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. Flags were flown at half-mast at the state secretariat in Gandhinagar and other Gujarat government offices. All official and entertainment programmes were cancelled. The collapse of the bridge on Sunday evening claimed 135 lives. Ahmedabad Mayor Kirit Parmar said, "We organised a meet to condole the loss of lives in the tragic incident." Similar prayer meetings were also held in other parts of the state. The decision to observe the state-wide mourning was taken on Monday in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the situation after the tragedy. CM Bhupendra Patel had in a tweet said no official function will be held on Wednesday. Prime Minister Modi on Tuesday calle

Bengal govt to conduct health check-up of all the 2,109 bridges in state

The West Bengal government has planned to carry out a "health check-up" of all 2,109 bridges in the state, after the collapse of a nearly 100-year-old suspension bridge in Gujarat, which left over 130 people dead, a senior official said. State Public Works Department Minister Pulak Roy, during a meeting with senior officials and engineers, instructed them to inspect the condition of the bridges and file reports with necessary observations by November-end, he said on Tuesday. Roy directed the engineers to take immediate measures "if the survey finds problems in any of the bridges", the official stated. At the meeting, a decision was taken to repair at the earliest the Coronation Bridge in Siliguri, and the Birendra Sasmal Setu across Kangsabati, the official said. Necessary work to repair the Santragachi Bridge, too, will commence from November 10, he said. "Two new bridges will be constructed over Kangsabati and Shilabati rivers," the official added. The minister, when contacted,

PM Modi holds high-level review meeting on Gujarat's Morbi bridge disaster

The Prime Minister once again emphasised on ensuring that those affected get all possible assistance

What is a suspension bridge? What possibly led to Morbi bridge collapse?

What is a suspension bridge? How does it transfer the load to the ground? Those were questions on the minds of many on Monday, a day after a century-old suspension bridge in Gujarat's Morbi over the Machchhu river collapsed, leaving 134 people dead. Just before the bridge collapsed, CCTV footage showed, some men were trying to rock the suspension bridge from one side to another. Saptadip Sarkar, a structural engineer working with Delhi-based Engineers India Limited answers these questions. "The deck of the suspension bridge, which bears the weight of the people walking on it in addition to its own weight, is held in place by the means of vertical suspenders which are made from ductile material and subjected to tension," he said. "These suspenders are then connected to the main cable which is also ductile and subjected to tension. "The main cable, which spans between the points connected by the bridge and is intermediately supported by vertical main column piers, has two functions

Sneak peak into major bridge collapse incidents in India in recent past

As Gujarat reels from one of the deadliest bridge collapse incidents in India's recent history, claiming at least 134 lives, PTI recalls other such tragic episodes that have shocked the nation in the past several years. According to a 2020 study 'Analysis of bridge failures in India from 1977 to 2017', published in international journal 'Structure and Infrastructure Engineering', as many as "2,130 bridges" -- excluding culverts and pedestrian bridges -- have failed to provide intended service or collapsed during various phases of construction in the last four decades. 1. Darjeeling bridge collapse (2011): Thirty-two people were killed and over 60 injured when an old wooden footbridge over a spring gave away, under the pressure of crowd, during a Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) meeting at Bijanbari in Darjeeling district on October 22, 2011. The bridge, which had been weakened by the September 18 earthquake, collapsed when a large number of people gathered on it for the meeting. 2. ...

Cabinet nod to river Mahakali bridge at Indo-Nepal border: Thakur

The union cabinet approved MoU between India and Nepal for construction of the bridge at Dharchula at Indian side and Nepal side

Govt to formulate policy for database for bridges' age, condition: Gadkari

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the Centre will framework a policy to know the condition and age of all the bridges across the country.He said that the Ministry had prepared the Indian Bridge Management System in order to collect information about all the bridges of the country.Speaking at the launch of the book "Building Bridges - Shaping the Future" written by Sachidanand Joshi and Vaibhav Dange, the union minister said that the Centre is mulling over making use of stainless steel in the bridges being built on the seaside. He said this will help in increasing the strength and longevity of the bridges as well as making them more secure.Highlighting new-age technologies, Gadkari said that new technology will have to be adopted for connecting the spans of bridges."We have a span of 30 metre in India. There is a span of 45 meters in Malaysia. This reduces the cost of the bridge by 30-40 per cent," he said.Gadkari emphasised on ...

Over Rs 600 crore sanctioned to build roads and bridges in Uttarakhand: CM

The Centre has sanctioned over Rs 600 crore for the construction of 42 roads and bridges in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Friday.

Part of under-construction bridge collapses in Delhi's Punjabi Bagh area

A portion of an under-construction bridge collapsed in the Punjabi Bagh area of Delhi on Tuesday.

NHAI to fine up to Rs 10 cr for major lapses in construction standards

The new policy allows NHAI to impose graded penalties that include heavy fines up to Rs 10 crore besides debarment and ban on bidding for any future NHAI projects for up to three years

100 bridges on the verge of collapse: Gadkari tells Lok Sabha

He said road projects worth Rs 3.85 lakh crore were delayed due to various reasons in the past

How safe are India's iconic bridges

A look into the condition of India's most iconic bridges