NEW DELHI: As Gujarat reels from one of the deadliest bridge collapse incidents in India's recent history, claiming at least 141 lives, PTI recalls other such tragic episodes that have shocked the nation in the past several years.
According to a 2020 study 'Analysis of bridge failures in India from 1977 to 2017', published in international journal 'Structure and Infrastructure Engineering', as many as "2,130 bridges" -- excluding culverts and pedestrian bridges -- have failed to provide intended service or collapsed during various phases of construction in the last four decades.
The natural disasters in India, according to the quoted study, have made the most devastating effect on the failure of the bridge infrastructure of an order of "80.3 per cent" -- based on a sample size of 2,010 bridges. Beside natural disasters, the deterioration of material has been the reason for "10.1 per cent" of the failure of bridges, while overloading has contributed to "3.28 per cent" of bridge failures.
"There are other noticeable causes of bridge failures such as blast by dissidents and accidents with vehicles or ships," it added.