22 Wires on Morbi Bridge May Have Been Broken Before Collapse: SIT Report

The SIT has found serious lapses in the repair work carried out by the Oreva Group, including welding old suspenders with new ones.

New Delhi February 20 dmanewsdesk : The Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Gujarat government to probe the Morbi bridge collapse has found that nearly half of the bridge’s wires were corroded and that old suspenders were welded with new ones during the so-called repair work.

The bridge over Machchu river collapsed in October last year, just four days after it was reopened after repair work, leading to the deaths of 141 people.

The SIT’s ‘Preliminary Report on Morbi Bridge Incident’ was submitted in December 2022, according to PTI. It was more recently shared with the Morbi municipality by the state’s urban development department. IAS officer Rajkumar Beniwal, IPS officer Subhash Trivedi, a secretary and a chief engineer from the state roads and building department, and a professor of structural engineering are members of the SIT.

The SIT has found serious lapses in the repair work carried out by the Oreva Group. One cable was corroded and nearly half of its wires “may be already broken” even before the cable snapped on October 30 evening.

Each cable was formed by seven strands, each comprising seven steel wires. Forty-nine wires were clubbed together in seven strands to form this cable, the SIT report said. “It was observed that out of the 49 wires (of that cable), 22 were corroded, which indicates that those wires may have already broken before the incident. The remaining 27 wires recently broke,” the report noted.

The report also said that during the renovation work, “old suspenders (steel rods which connect the cable with the platform deck) were welded with the new suspenders. Hence the behaviour of suspenders changed. In these types of bridges, single rod suspenders should be used to bear the load”.

Earlier this month, the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Morbi civic body passed two separate resolutions on the contract given to the Oreva Group. One resolution was moved by office-bearers of the civic body and another by the councillors. Both the groups claimed they were not aware of the agreement under which the renovation contract was awarded to Oreva Group.

The Oreva Group had been given the contract to repair the Morbi bridge in March 2022, by the local municipality. The state government has since suspended Sandipsinh Zala, then chief officer of the Morbi municipality who signed the MoU with Oreva.

The civic body has now claimed that the Oreva Group reopened the bridge without its permission.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat high court, which is hearing a suo moto petition on the bridge collapse and loss of lives, has asked the Morbi civic body how the Oreva group was given the contract without a tender being floated first.

In late January, the police filed its chargesheet in the bridge collapse case, naming managing director of Oreva Group Jaysukh Patel and nine others as accused. The government-appointed SIT had found several problems with the repair work. The municipality too has been questioned on the matter, as movement on the bridge was not regulated and several design faults were found in the bridge post renovation works.

Source: The Wire