Sohna flyover suffered damage two months prior to the collapse on August 22

Nearly two months prior to the collapse of a span at the under-construction Sohna elevated road on August 22, the project had suffered another damage when cracks

Nearly two months prior to the collapse of a span at the under-construction Sohna elevated road on August 22, the project had suffered another damage when cracks appeared in a span between two pillars of the elevated road near Sohna ki Dhani, found a recent spot visit by Hindustan Times. However, unlike the latest incident on Sohna Road, this span did not collapse and was supported with the help of steel shuttering. The officials of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) familiar with the matter said, at that time, a probe committee was set up, which concluded that engineering issues had led to the damage.

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The damage which happened at the beginning of July was concentrated in a stretch of two to three metres across the span between two pillars. However, since the damage happened gradually, it allowed the contractor to take precautionary measures, such as setting up a large steel ramp and barricading the affected area to prevent any collapse of the structure, said officials.

The damage to the span has however put a question mark on the construction processes and the quality of construction material being employed by NHAI contractors.

Gurgaon Sohna Highway Private Limited, a fully owned subsidiary of HG Infra Engineering, is building the ₹600-crore Sohna Road widening project from Badshahpur to Sohna town. The first half of the project is being developed by Oriental Infrastructure Private Limited.

The 21.66 km-long Sohna road project has two parts — an underpass and an elevated road from Subash Chowk to a point beyond Badshahpur. The second part comprises the expansion of the 12.72-km road from Badshahpur to Sohna and will involve the construction of flyovers and underpasses at major crossings to ensure smooth movement of vehicles on the entire stretch.

A visit to the spot under question on Sohna Road around 15 kilometres from Rajiv Chowk in Gurugram on Wednesday reveals that the span is damaged towards the eastern side and there is an obtrusion, which is visible at the crack. The contractor in order to ensure that the span does not collapse has installed heavy-duty shuttering and other measures to support the concrete beam. Workers were also deployed at the spot, who were engaged in cutting the stressing cables that are supposed to keep these spans in place.

On August 22, a span between piers 10 and 11 collapsed, after which a high-level technical committee was formed by NHAI to probe the reasons for this lapse. The committee after detailed deliberations put the onus on the quality of concrete used, the presence of cavity, and the displacement of stressing cables as possible reasons for this incident.

When asked about the earlier damage to the span near Sohna Ki Dhani, NHAI project director Shashi Bhushan, who recently joined the project implementation unit, Gurugram, said that the extant incident happened in the beginning of July and has been under investigation of NHAI. “A technical committee probed the matter and it was found that the damage happened due to engineering issues that are common at under-construction projects. A committee has made recommendations to prevent such incidents like testing the concrete, installing spans in proper sequence, etc — measures which were implemented,” said Bhushan. The NHAI project director added that the entire damaged span will be removed and replaced with a fresh span.

HT also contacted the contractor regarding the earlier damage. The contractor said the damage to the span happened due to routine engineering issues and the snag was identified and immediate corrective measures were taken to prevent any mishap. “The corrective measures were all recommended by the NHAI. We have also installed a ramp under the damaged span and barricaded the area. Strength test of other spans is being done to prevent any repeat of the August 22 incident,” said Kuldeeo Rajbanshi, project director, Gurgaon Sohna Highway Private Limited, which is developing the project.

It may be recalled here that the NHAI had transferred its senior officials and the contractor also had discharged two senior executives after the collapse of span on August 22. The authority has also stopped work on the elevated stretch and is presently waiting for the report from the technical committee.