Bridge girder collapses
Locals blame use of substandard materials in work of the under-construction bridge in Ghatail
One of the girders of an under-construction bridge in Ghatail upazila of the district collapsed on Thursday.
The incident took place due to use of low-quality materials in the construction work, alleged locals.
The authorities concerned, however, termed the matter as an accident.
According to Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in Ghatail, the 81-metre-height and 7.32-metre-wide bridge is being constructed on the Tok river in Baniapara area at a cost of Tk 4 crore. Construction firm ‘Durga Enterprise’ of Jamalpur got the work order.
About 65 percent work of the bridge has already been completed. Six girders out of total nine were already set up on the three spans of the bridge. The seventh girder was broken while it was being set up on Thursday.
Local people blamed use of substandard materials in the construction work for this.
Sabuj Miah, site manager of the construction firm, said owner of the firm Shamyal Chandra Saha is now touring abroad.
Low substandard materials were used in work as the girder was constructed in presence of the upazila engineer of LGED about three weeks ago.
Despite repeated attempts, LGED Upazila Engineer AKM Hedayetullah could not be contacted on his phone.
Refuting the allegation of use of low-quality materials in the construction work, Tangail LGED Executive Engineer Golam Azam said it is just an accident.
He further said the contractor is responsible for this.