Kollidam old steel bridge develops crack due to heavy flow of water

TRICHY: The old steel bridge across the Kollidam river connecting Srirangam with mainland has developed a major crack due to the heavy flow of water. The crack developed on one of the piers of the British era bridge on Wednesday night might deteriorate further leading to the collapse of a portion of bridge, officials said.
According to the state highways department, construction of the old Kollidam steel bridge concluded in 1928. The 792-metre-long bridge across the Kollidam connects No 1 tollgate locality with Srirangam island. It had been used for road transport till 2014.

Citing the weak condition of 90-year-old bridge, the Tamil Nadu government constructed a new bridge a few metres away from the old one in 2014. Since then, the British era bridge was accessed only by pedestrians and two-wheeler riders, that too very rarely.

The old steel bridge developed a major crack on one of its 23 piers on Wednesday night. After release of 87,000 cusecs of water into the Kollidam from Mukkombu dam on Thursday, the crack on the bridge deteriorated further.

Officials said the portion of the bridge might collapse sooner or later depending on the flow in the Kollidam.

“The district administration is closely following the situation with state highways department. As of now, both the entry points of the bridge have been cordoned off. Supervision in the locality will be strengthened,” district collector K Rajamani said after inspecting the bridge.

Officials asked people not to panic.

Source