BRO bridge collapse: Probe blames design

Preliminary inquiry into the collapse of the one-year-old bridge built by the Border Roads Organisations (BRO) Deepak Project over the Nauti Khud rivulet on Basantpur-Kingal-Rampur road,50 kilometers from Shimla,last month,has started zeroing in on the bridge design fault.

The initial inquiries have raised more doubts on the design of the bridge than the material used in construction,considering the peculiar manner in which the top part of the bridge toppled over from the base structure and tilted to one side due to the load of the four fully-loaded trucks carrying cement.

The BROs Deepak Project headquarters at Shimla have now approached the state Public Works Department to get data on similar single span curved bridges in other parts of the state for comparative study of designs.

The bridge was classified as Road Class 7 with a load-bearing capacity of 70 tonnes. The load of the trucks parked on the bridge was assessed as almost equal,but the bridge had collapsed,killing two persons.