Bihar: Four suspended over bridge collapse incident in Kishanganj

Four persons including two engineers and two project managers were suspended by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) a day after a span of a 100-meter under-construction bridge over Mechi River on a-94-long stretch on NH-327 E between Galgaliya in Kishanganj and Araria had collapsed at Gorichak in Bihar’s Kishanganj on Friday.

Regional officer (NHAI) Abdhesh Kumar while confirming the action on Sunday, said four including two engineers team leader and bridge engineer of independent engineer, M/s Chaitanya Project Consultancy Pvt Ltd RN Jha and Mukesh Kumar respectively have been suspended.

“Besides senior project manager and deputy project manager (structure) of Concessionaire, M/s GR Galgaliya Bahadurganj Highway private limited Ram Gopal Rana and Shailesh Kumar respectively have also been suspended,” he said.

Also Read: Span of bridge collapses in Bihar’s Kishanganj, probe underway

“Preliminary investigation reveals that recently there is sudden rise of water flow from Nepal in Meachi river on which this bridge is constructed. Further preliminary investigations have also revealed that the entire river was channelised through the P2-P3-P4 spans during the construction activity, leading to the constriction of water flow and excessive scour of the sandy river bed. This has possibly contributed to the settlement of the pile foundation at P3”, Kumar said.

“An unexpected settlement of 600 mm (approx.) occurred on June 23 afternoon at the pile foundation beneath pier P3 on Major Bridge at CH 24+461 having span configuration of 1x20m + 5x36m + 1x20m (total length 222 m) with PSC girder superstructure resting over spherical bearings on an RCC circular column and pile foundation consisting of four piles of 1500 mm diameter”, the RO said.

“The superstructure was erected in May 2023 and the bridge is not yet in operation. There are no casualties or injuries to any construction workers”, he said.