Bridge collapses under overloaded trucks
Road communications on several routes have remained suspended as an iron bridge over a canal in Bhandaria upazila under the district collapsed under the pressure of two stone-laden trucks early yesterday.
Two stone loaded trucks, going from Pirojpur to Mathbaria on Pirojpur-Bhandaria-Mathbaria road, simultaneously got into the bridge at Madarshi village around 2:00am, causing its collapse, locals said.
As the two trucks remained stuck on the bridge, road communication with Mathbaria from Bhandaria, Pirojpur, Barisal, Khulna and Dhaka has remained suspended. The accident also cut road communication with Barguna from Bhandaria, Pirojpur and Khulna.
Locals are now crossing the canal by boat.
Md Nazrul Islam, executive engineer of Pirojpur Roads and Highways Department (RHD), said the iron bridge is very old and there is no span in the middle of the long structure. It collapsed failing to bear the excessive load of the two vehicles.
“There is no iron bridge like this one in the district. We have sent a few persons to Gopalganj to take experts' help as there is a bridge with the same pattern. It may take a week to one month to make the bridge usable.
“The drivers and helpers of the two trucks went into hiding and we will file a case against them after consulting with the higher authorities,” said the RHD engineer.
In June last year, another iron bridge collapsed at Gudighata village in Mathbaria upazila on the same road as two stone-loaded trucks got into it together. But no new bridge has been built there yet.
Instead, two sides of the road have been connected making an embankment across the canal.
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