Cracked Bridge: People get stuck on Dhaka-Aricha highway

One side of Salehpur bridge on Dhaka-Aricha highway has been closed to traffic after officials detected cracks on a girder Wednesday afternoon.

The bottleneck caused about 1.5km tailbacks between Turag bridge and Aminbazar, subjecting thousands of people to hours of congestion.

Mohmammed Shamim Al Mamun, executive engineer (Dhaka division) at Roads and Highways Department, said the bridge is vulnerable because of the cracks on the girder constructed in the 1970s.

Vehicles were asked to use the two lanes that were built much later, he told The Daily Star.

It might take three weeks to repair the girder and reopen the lanes to traffic, he said.

Dhaka-Aricha Highway is one of the busiest roads in the country. Thousands of vehicles use the highway every day.

Ashikur Rahman, a private employee who commutes between the capital and Savar every day, said his travel time has doubled since Wednesday.

Golam Mostofa, officer-in-charge of Savar Highway Police Station, told The Daily Star that police teams were trying to clear the road as fast as possible.