The Gujarat Government’s five SIT members recently shared the primary report on Morbi Bridge Accident.
In this report, the SIT has revealed that out of 49 cables, 22 cables had rusted off the bridge. SIT believes that those 22 wires would have already been broken when the number of people on the bridge increased, and the remaining 27 wires couldn’t take weight & broke.
The SIT further stated in its report that during the cables of the bridge joined by welding the old suspenders with the new ones. Usually, single-rod suspenders should be used to carry the load in cable bridges. One of the two main cables of the bridge built in 1887 over where the Machchu river was rusted, 22 wires must have been broken before the accident. A cable was made of 7 wires, which were of steel.
During the accident, the main cable broke on the upstream side of the river. Where about 300 people were present on the bridge at the time of the accident. Which was much more than the load-carrying capacity of the bridge. Although the SIT said its actual capacity would be confirmed by the lab report.
The SIT has also mentioned in its report that the replacement of the wooden planks with aluminum decks was also the reason for the accident. The flexible wooden planks on the bridge were replaced with rigid aluminum panels. Due to this own weight of the bridge also increased. Besides that, the bridge was closed for renovation in March 2022 and was opened on the 26th of October. No weight testing or structural testing was done before the opening of the Morbi Bridge.
The Morbi police have already arrested 10 accused including Oreva Group Managing Director Jaisukh Patel under sections 304, 308, 336, 337, and 338 of the Indian Penal Code. The Morbi incident took place on 30 October 2022. 135 people died in this.
