Engineer says 15 days of repairs needed on Buriganga bridge hit by rescue vessel

It may take 15 days of repairs on the bridge at Dhaka’s Postogola on the Buriganga river after it was damaged by a rescue vessel.

The authorities will carry out the repairs on Bangladesh-China Friendship Bridge-1 with gaps to give the repairing materials time to settle in, said Sabuj Uddin Khan, the additional chief engineer at the Roads and Highways Division.  

Experts made the assessment after an initial visit but they will still need to use ultra sound, x-ray and other technologies to assess the damage, he said on Wednesday.

The authorities are allowing passenger vehicles on the bridge by putting up barricades around the damaged portion, but it may take until Monday to allow goods-laden vehicles to use the bridge. 

Officials said a girder of the bridge was damaged when the rescue vessel Pratyay of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority hit the bridge on Monday morning.

The vessel travelled from Narayanganj to pull up Morning Bird, which overturned after being hit by another larger vessel. At least 33 people have died in the incident.