By Sumit Khanna
AHMEDABAD, India, February 20 (Reuters) – Broken corroded wires, improper welding and alterations to the deck of a 145-year-old suspension bridge in India contributed to its collapse last year, killing 135 people, an investigation has found .
The colonial-era suspension bridge in the city of Morbi, in the western state of Gujarat, was packed with tourists when it collapsed on October 30, dumping hundreds into the Machchhu River. It had reopened just days earlier after months of repairs.
A five-man special investigation team formed by the state government found that the main cables were not inspected or replaced, no stress or structural test was performed before the bridge opened, and that there were far more people on the bridge during the incident than its capacity .
“The upstream side main cable was found broken on one side,” said a preliminary investigation report by Reuters.
“Of the main cable’s 49 wires, 22 were corroded, suggesting those wires may have been broken prior to the incident. The remaining 27 wires recently broke.”
The bridge – 233 meters long and 1.25 meters wide – had been closed for repairs for more than seven months until the week of the fatal collapse.
CCTV footage showed a group of young men taking photos while others tried to rock the bridge from side to side before the cables snapped and they were thrown off the narrow walkway.
Sandeepsinh Zala, Morbi community leader at the time of the collapse, was suspended by the state in November, while police last month arrested Jaysukh Patel, chief executive of Oreva Group, which had been awarded the contract to repair and operate the building.
Oreva Group did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
According to the report, the refurbished deck on the bridge was incorrectly joined, with old hangers being welded to new ones while wooden planks were replaced with aluminum sheets.
“If there had been individual wooden planks instead of an aluminum deck, the number of casualties could have been fewer due to their flexible behavior,” the report said, adding that the main cables and hangers were not tested during the renovation.
According to the report, Zala broke the law in signing the agreement with Oreva, best known for manufacturing watches and electronics. The report blamed Oreva for unrestricted access to the bridge for people and inadequate safety precautions.
“Repair work was carried out without consulting competent technical experts. The company has outsourced the repair work to a non-competent body,” it said.
Zala declined to comment as the matter is before the court. (Additional reporting by Shivam Patel in New Delhi; Writing by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; Editing by Louise Heavens)
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