The District Collector on Tuesday said that he will seek reports from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) regarding the sinking of the Bolgatty-Vallarpadam bridge approach road that occurred the other day.
There was heavy traffic along the Mulavukadu-Bolgatty route since Monday with the officials closing the bridge after being alerted on the issue.
According to the NHAI officials, the slab connecting the approach road to the bridge had loosened owing to the weight of the container lorries plying across the bridge. The newly constructed bridge, meant exclusively for container lorries, was thrown open by the NHAI for a trial run last month. The bridge has been constructed to ease the traffic along the Mulavukadu-Bolgatty route.
District Collector Sheik Pareeth who visited the site on Monday evening said that the approach road had sunk as the portion was filled with loose clay.
“The situation is serious and we will not allow the matter to be taken lightly. Corrective measures have also been sought from the NHAI,” Pareeth added.
NHAI project director C T Abraham said that technical experts have arrived to study the problem related to the approach road, on Tuesday.
“The bridge, and other Goshree bridges, are constructed on a marshy terrain. This is the reason for the phenomenon. More time is required for the clay deposited on the approach road to settle. In this particular case, the approach road was connected to the bridge by a slab, which is not the case in most approach roads. The technical experts have proposed the need to extend the bridge so as to avoid any future mishaps,” he said.
On Monday, the slab connecting the approach road and bridge loosened by 5 cm.