Collapsed bridge in India. AFP

Collapsed bridge in India had faulty cables

Old suspension cables with corroded wires were the main problems that caused the recent collapse of a suspension bridge in India’s western state of Gujarat that killed 135 people. More than 500 people were on the bridge when it collapsed, most of them women and children who had assembled to perform rituals for the Hindu festival of Chhath Puja and the Gujarati New Year. A report made public by the municipal officials included preliminary findings from the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that the Gujarat government appointed. One of the two main cables of the bridge had corroded, and nearly half of its wires "may be already broken" before the cable snapped. “It was observed that out of the 49 wires , 22 were corroded, which indicates that those wires may have already been broken before the incident. The remaining 27 wires broke recently,” according to a report from the SIT. They also discovered that the new suspenders had been soldered onto the old suspenders, which are steel rods that connect the cable to the platform deck. While  investigators said that laboratory results will establish the bridge's true carrying capacity, they discovered in their preliminary report that the wooden planks had been replaced with rigid aluminum deck, potentially adding weight to the bridge and increasing deaths. Oreva Group, a firm known for its wall clocks and electric cycles, spearheaded the renovation work, raising concerns as to why the company had been chosen to work on the bridge. Ten people were detained on manslaughter-related allegations, including the managing director. KD/Expat Media
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