After cracks, now glass panels on Atal bridge losing transparency
On April 6, one of the eight glass panels on the footover bridge between Ellis Bridge and Sardar Bridge connecting west and east banks of Sabarmati had developed “spontaneous cracks”.
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Workers barricade the glass panels with steel fencing at Atal bridge in Ahmedabad. Nirmal Harindran With one of the glass panels at the popular Atal Bridge on the Sabarmati river being replaced after it developed cracks last month, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) now faces a new problem – the glass panels are losing transparency.
While as a precautionary measure to avoid cracks on Atal bridge, the civic body has barricaded all the eight glass panels with a dimension of 1.5 m by 2 m each with steel fencing, to maintain their transparency, the only solution experts have suggested is to replace the panels with new ones, said officials.
Jagdish Patel, Chief General Manager at SRFDCL (Sabarmati Riverfront Development Corporation Limited), told The Indian Express: “The glass strength and load capacity is not an issue, as it has been tested by experts. But the transparency of these glasses, which has reduced by 80 per cent due to people walking over these panels, is a bigger issue. The sand and dust found under shoes has resulted in these glasses turning opaque.”
On April 6, one of the eight glass panels on the footover bridge between Ellis Bridge and Sardar Bridge connecting west and east banks of Sabarmati had developed “spontaneous cracks”.
A team of experts, including senior officials as well as glass manufacturing and fitting experts, had visited the bridge to assess the damage and conducted strength tests. After inspection, the experts had concluded that despite the cracks, the glass panels remained safe. The glass used can hold the weight of 500 kg per square metre, similar as the bridge. The four layers of glass is toughened and bonded with lamination, which experts claimed makes it strong enough and not risky.
The bridge was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last August.
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