Following Vadodara bridge tragedy, Jamnagar launches bridge and road safety survey

Jamnagar, July 14 (IANS) Vadodara bridge collapse has prompted a statewide directive to inspect infrastructure in Gujarat, as a result of which, the Jamnagar Municipal Corporation has sprung into action. The inspection began at the Gulab Nagar Overbridge on Monday, where officials gathered detailed data on the bridge’s current condition.

The team then moved to inspect two more bridges near Dhunvav on the Jamnagar-Rajkot Road. On-site, Municipal Commissioner D.N. Modi provided specific instructions and recommendations to the engineers and department heads involved.

The team did a comprehensive survey of bridges and roads across the city. D.N. Modi personally inspected several overbridges along major arterial routes, including Rajkot Road and Kalavad Road, to assess their structural integrity.

The survey continued along the Kalavad Highway, extending from Mahaprabhuji's Bethak and covering multiple structures en route.

Joining the inspection were DMC Devendrasinh Jhala, City Engineer Bhavesh Jani, Controlling Officer Mukesh Varnava, and teams from the Town Planning (TPO), Estate, and Solid Waste Management branches.

In addition to bridge assessments, the team is directed to identify and repair potholes and damaged stretches across the city’s main roads, especially those affected by recent rains.

A special focus was placed on urgent patchwork and temporary restoration to ensure road safety and minimize public inconvenience.

The initiative comes as part of a larger statewide effort to ensure that aging or stressed infrastructure does not pose further risks to public safety.

Gujarat is home to a diverse and extensive bridge infrastructure managed by multiple agencies.

For instance, Surat Municipal Corporation oversees 124 bridges within the city -- comprising river bridges, flyovers, and underpasses -- following a High Court mandate for structural surveys.

In Ahmedabad, the Municipal Corporation manages 92 flyovers, bridges, and underpasses, with 69 structures inspected in 2024 and another 42 due for post-monsoon evaluation.

In the Vadodara area, there are 43 bridges, including 14 railway overbridges, 22 river bridges, four flyovers, and one additional bridge; all 41 operational ones have recently passed a pre-monsoon safety survey.

Beyond municipal domains, Gujarat features landmark inter-city bridges such as the Sudarshan Setu (2.32 km cable-stayed link opened in 2024), the 3rd Narmada Bridge (1.34 km extradosed road span inaugurated in 2017), the Atal Pedestrian Bridge (300 m steel truss over the Sabarmati), Surat’s Pandit Dindayal Upadhyay Cable Bridge (918 m), the historic Golden Bridge (1.41 km, since 1881), and Sudama Setu (166 m pedestrian suspension span in Dwarka).

--IANS

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