PANJIM: In an incident, which will put a question mark on the safety of the under-construction third Mandovi bridge, a segment of the deck-slab developed a huge crack.
On the counting day, Saturday March 11, around 9.00 pm when the deck-slab was being installed a segment got stuck between two slabs and cracked. Luckily, the huge segment did not collapse and thus a major tragedy was avoided, workers at the site told Herald (see picture).
The bridge will have 31 spans comprising 13-25 segments each. The segments have been prepared using three external casting beds and reinforced bar cages and rebar jigs at Dhargal casting yard.
ERCC Engineers, who did not want to be named, told Herald that the segments seem to be of poor quality and hence cracked. “The segment does not crack easily and hence it looks like very sub-standard work and puts a question mark on the safety of the bridge,” the engineer said.
GSIDC Managing Director Sanjith Rodrigues was unavailable for comment. However, another official, on condition of anonymity confirmed the development.
“During construction the segment near the third pier and the final segment to be adjusted was fixed with pity bars, which was anchored into the final segment. The crane which was supposed to move horizontally by accident moved vertically, thus locking the segment with the other two and in turn transferring the entire load to the single segment which resulted in the distress and the deck developed minor cracks,” said the official.
He, however, said the deck slab was immediately replaced and there was no casualty or injury to anyone.
When contacted an L&T issued a statement saying utmost care of safety is taken and quality work is being carried out. “While carrying P2-P3 span during night hours of work, under routine check it was found that shear key for interlocking was not matching with adjacent segment and on adjusting with jacks, segment developed additional stresses. Hence, the same was rejected and sent back to precast yard and condemned for replacement with a new segment,” L&T said.
This is not the first accident at the site. In January, a worker was burnt to death in an accident at the construction site of the third Mandovi bridge. Larsen & Toubro said it had tightened its safety apparatus. A company official associated with the project said that following the accident the company called in its senior security advisors and safety auditors from overseas to take stock of the situation and make necessary changes and added that safety precautions have been increased following the death of the worker.
“The entire construction site is divided into four sections and every section has its own safety in-charge. We conduct a daily safety meeting before starting work. If there is any violation of rules, the security officer responsible for the site is penalised,” the official said, and added that new purchases, including that of indicators for the construction site have been made. While most workers expressed satisfaction with the improvements made after the accident, some demanded improvement in their living conditions.
