Snaps And Snippets

Risky bridge being replaced

17 August 2009, 17:00 PM

Staff Correspondent, Rajshahi

Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) all on a sudden on Sunday sealed off Chanduria Coukirghat Bridge in Tanore to all vehicular traffic, marking the bridge risky. People were seen taking another road of neighbouring Mohonpur upazila to reach Tanore spending extra time and fare for additional 15-km of road. The LGED authorities on Sunday were shutting the road on both sides of the bridge and testing soil nearby to replace the old bridge with a new one. “Structure of the left lane of the bridge was affected due to movement of overloaded vehicles”, said Abul Kashem, sub-divisional engineer of LGED who was on the spot. He claimed the bridge was constructed in Pakistan era. “Due to its old age, we declared it unfit for use one year ago and we abandoned it one week ago when we noticed the bridge's structure has become weak and it can be damaged any time”, said Kashem. However, locals said the bridge was constructed in 1992 and was frequently repaired.