WATCH | 'Structure failure'? Odisha bridge on NH-16 collapses

A portion of a bridge on NH-16 in Odisha’s Jajpur collapsed on Tuesday leading to restriction of vehicle movement. The National Highway-16 connects Chennai and Kolkata. It sank near Rasulpur block in Jajpur district. Bridge experts have been called and the actual cause of the collapse will be determined after the investigation, JP Verma, Project Director, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said. “This bridge was constructed around 2008… Prima Facie it looks like a structure failure. Once the expert committee is here we will know when we could restore it… We will create a temporary diversion for the traffic,” Verma said.

Locals had first spotted that a span of the bridge has sunk. Fortunately, there were no vehicle plying at that time. Vehicular movement was immediately suspended on the stretch. The investigating team will be finding out the real cause of the collapse, but local residents claim that the low-quality construction work has led to the mishap. “We were sitting nearby when a vehicle passed and a loud sound was heard. We rushed to the spot and saw that a portion of the bridge has caved in. It is due to the use of low-quality construction materials. The bridge was constructed in 2007-08,” a report by Odisha TV quoted Sridhar Das, a local resident, as saying. After receiving the information of the bridge collapse in Odisha, Kuakhia police reached the spot and streamlined the traffic. The stretch has been barricaded to avoid mishap and all the vehicular traffic has been diverted to another road. “People are facing traffic problems. We are now minimizing the load on the other side of the bridge. If the other side of the bridge develops any damage, then the state’s movement will be cut off. So, at the one end of the bridge, Chandikhole RTO is looking into it and we are taking care of this side of the bridge," the report quoted RTO, Jajpur, Nilakantha Pradhan, as saying. With inputs from agencies