ER urged for Brace Bridge health audit

Kolkata: The Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority has written to the Eastern Railways(ER) to conduct health audit study of Brace Bridge as soon as possible and take remedial measures if needed.

The chief engineer of roads and bridges sector of KMDA has stated in its letter to the chief bridge engineer of Eastern Railways that the matter should be treated as urgent to avoid any catastrophe in the bridge.

"After the cave-in of the Majerhat Bridge, we had written to the ER requesting them to conduct health audit study of Brace Bridge as early as possible and submit a report in this regard. However, we are not too sure whether the ER has conducted any audit of the bridge till date. So, as per the directions of the minister of Urban Development, Firhad Hakim, we have again written to the ER requesting them to take up any repair or retrofitting of the bridge if they deem so," a senior KMDA official said.

KMDA has stated in its letter that they are ready to provide technical assistance to ER. Since the cave in of the Majerhat bridge, a major portion of the traffic particularly buses from the Behala side are being diverted over the Brace Bridge while travelling to the heart of the city.

Moreover, with the bridge connecting the Port area, goods vehicles, including heavy trucks, also take Brace Bridge so there is huge pressure on the bridge even during the night.

KMDA has also written to ER urging them to provide drawings of the Chitpur Bridge as it has undergone modifications from time to time for facilitating the movement of circular railways under the bridge.

"We are soon taking up repair of the bridge and before that it is necessary to have in hand the drawing of the changes made earlier so that our engineers have a thorough knowledge of the structure of the bridge," the official said.

The inspection of the bridge by KMDA, state Public Works Department, ER and Kolkata Municipal Corporation in December last year has revealed that it has gone some serious geometrical and structural changes in the past

particularly during construction of the Circular Rail project, the height of the old bridge was raised from its original

one.

KMDA feels that the bridge is in need of some major repairing work on an urgent basis.