Bridge collapses in Bhoranj hours after shuttering removed

Our Correspondent

Hamirpur, March 31

An under-construction bridge collapsed near Jahu village in Bhoranj division of the Public Works Department (PWD) yesterday. There was no casualty as no worker was there when the incident occurred.

The bridge gave way in just a few hours after its shuttering was removed. The tender of the bridge work was awarded to a contractor in 2021. He was expected to complete the work this year.

It has been learnt that the 75-metre-long bridge was part of the Jahu to Kot link road being constructed at a cost of Rs 2.4 crore. It had three spans of 25 metre each and the length of the link road was 2 km. The estimated cost of the bridge was about Rs 1.25 crore.

The span of the bridge broke from the middle and fell onto the riverbed.

The presence of officers of the department is mandatory at the time such slabs are laid to monitor the quality and the ratio of iron, cement, grit and sand being used.

Meanwhile, the PWD has ordered a high-level inquiry into the incident. A team of officers from Shimla will visit the site tomorrow to investigate every aspect of the bridge collapse.

Vijay Chaudhary, Superintending Engineer, said that he had asked the field staff to submit a detailed report on the bridge collapse by tomorrow. He added that a high-level investigation team from the state headquarters would visit the site tomorrow. The guilty would not be spared.

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