A crack appeared in a concrete girder of an under-construction metro bridge shortly after it was positioned on its supporting pillars on Tuesday, according to officials. As a precaution, traffic was diverted from the area. The damaged segment, one of nearly a dozen similar box girders in the span, will be replaced, officials confirmed.
According to a release from the Gujarat Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (GMRC), the span between pillars 747 and 748 is part of the east-west corridor of the metro project, which connects Saroli with Kapodra.
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The final stressing of the box girder span was completed at 1:30 am and it was kept under observation for 24 hours as per rules. At around 2:00 pm, one segment deformation was noticed. The deformation of the bridge is being continuously monitored and is in stable condition, said the statement.
The company stated that since the load of the bridge remains on the launching girder, the damaged segment can be removed following standard procedures. They added that the cause of the deformation will only be determined after the segment is removed.
GMRC General Manager (Civil) Yogendra Singh Chauhan reassured the public, stating that there was no need to panic. "There are thousands of segments in such bridges and it is normal to have such minor issues in one of them. We will destress the cables (which keep together all span segments) and change that segment," he said.