Sixth block on the right side of the bridge had moved
The gap formed between blocks of the bridge
Vijayawada: A loose block in the Keesara Bridge on the Vijayawada-Hyderabad national highway was spotted on Wednesday.
Locals and some of the travellers observed that the sixth block on the right side of the bridge had moved, as its bearings were damaged, leaving a gap of two inches. The officials of the National Highway Authority of India, who visited the bridge, examined the damage to the bearings and blocked traffic movement. However, vehicles are being allowed temporarily on the left side of the bridge.
NHAI project director G. Sridhar, safety manager Murali Krishna, engineer Kishore Babu and others, rushed to the spot and conducted an inquiry.
Mr Sridhar said that initially, the bridge was capable of handling a maximum load of 125 tonnes. However, at present, the load being carried by the bridge is much more, and that is the reason for the damage. “Technicians from Hyderabad would take up the repair job and complete it in a week. Traffic will be diverted through the left side of the bridge till then,” he said.
In 2002, an engineer was a killed and 26 workers injured while building the same block. Construction work was halted for six months then. In 2009, a two-inch crack was detected on the same bridge forcing traffic to be diverted through the old bridge. The bridge is built across Munneru rivulet.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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