RAWALPINDI: A section, including a pillar and girders, of an under-construction bridge over the Soan River near the building of the Lahore High Court collapsed on Monday, disrupting traffic on the artery linking Rawat with Kutchery Chowk.

Fortunately, no vehicles were passing when a very large crater was created at the beginning of the bridge after a pillar collapsed due to ground erosion; otherwise, a terrible accident would have occurred. Videos captured by police officials and a visit to the site by Dawn showed erosion, construction errors and poor supervision.

The project of the National Highway Authority (NHA) is being executed by the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO). Under the project, the bridge is being extended 20 feet on both sides to ease the traffic flow. It is part of an Rs8 billion road improvement project from Kutchery Chowk to T-Chowk, Rawat.

On Monday, afternoon, one of the vertical pillars caved in and forced the authorities concerned to stop the traffic on the bridge. Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha told Dawn that the project, which had been launched by the NHA on funding from the federal government, “collapsed due to a fault in its design” as per the initial report presented to him. He directed an inquiry into the matter.

Initial report blames ‘fault in design’ for collapse of pillar; traffic diverted

He said that the administration had asked the NHA and contractor to take immediate steps to repair the damage before Eidul Azha. He said the bridge was located at the entry point of the garrison city and all the heavy and light vehicles used this road to enter the city. Later, the commissioner along with the NHA and FWO representatives inspected the site.

A senior official of the engineering department of the district administration told Dawn that the faulty design was the main reason for the collapse.

“Before the rain, the contractor was supposed to make arrangements to mitigate the stormwater [in event of rain] and construct a protection wall away from the bridge but it was not made,” he added.

According to the official, three construction projects were being carried out in the area: the extension of the bridge, parking lanes for the Lahore High Court and the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Phase-I service road.

He said that the coordination of the Punjab Highway Department, NHA and other authorities was required especially during the rainy season. He said it was expected that the rainwater would arrive in the Soan River from nearby nullahs as well as Leh Nullah.

When contacted, NHA spokesman Sibtain Raza Lodhi said that the project had been launched by the NHA and FWO was the contractor. He added the pile collapsed due to the stormwater, but it did not damage the whole structure.

He said that the damage would be repaired in a day and added that the contractor had been asked to repair the damaged part as soon as possible.

Traffic diverted

After the incident, traffic police personnel were deployed to divert traffic to alternative routes as commuters were forced to take lengthy detours. Chief Traffic Officer Taimur Khan with his team reached the site and supervised the traffic movement.

The CTO said that traffic going to Kutchery from Rawat was being diverted to alternative routes, while the traffic coming from Kutchery Chowk was being operated on a single lane. He said the highway police had been informed about the diversion.

“There is heavy traffic pressure on both sides of the high court chowk and its link roads,” he said, adding that, “citizens going to Rawat from Kutchery Chowk and Jhelum Road are requested to avoid unnecessary travel”.

Over 62,000 vehicles ply on this bridge on a daily basis as thousands of people travel to and from Kutchery Chowk.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2023