Crack appears in a pillar of Chattogram flyover. Are heavy vehicles to blame?

Chattogram police have closed a section of MA Mannan Flyover to traffic after a crack appeared in a ramp’s pillar.

Mitoon Chowdhury Chittagong Bureaubdnews24.com
Published : 26 Oct 2021, 10:28 AM
Updated : 26 Oct 2021, 10:29 AM

Officials said the ramp was constructed for lighter vehicles and the pillar was damaged due to the load of heavier ones.

Stretching from the city’s Chandgaon area to Bahaddarhat intersection, the 1.33 km flyover opened in October 2013 after being constructed with a budget of Tk 1.06 billion.

The Arakan Road ramp on MA Mannan flyover in Chattogram is closed to traffic after a crack appeared on one of the pillars. Photo: Suman Babu

A ramp leading to Kalurghat was later added in 2017. The Chattogram Development Authority took steps to link a 326m long and 6.7m wide ramp with the flyover in December 2016, as demanded by the locals.

Chandgaon Police Station chief Moinur Rahman said the crack was identified in a pillar connecting the ramp to the flyover on Monday night.

“Upon receiving the news, we suspended traffic in the respective section and removed all shops beneath it. Traffic was cut off considering the risks. We told the CDA, the city corporation and MAX Group [constructor]. They will do the rest of the work.”

Experts said authorities opened the flyover ignoring a proposal of setting up a loop.

A crack appears in the pillar of MA Mannan flyover’s ramp to Arakan Road in Chattogram’s Bahaddarhat. Photo: Suman Babu

Responsible for building the flyover, CDA and Chattogram City Corporation, which looks after it, are not willing to take any responsibility for what has transpired.

WHY HEAVIER VEHICLES RAN

CDA engineer Mahfuzur Rahman, director of the flyover project, said, “There was a height barrier and signboard at the time of [the ramp’s] opening.”

“But a WASA project was underway in the road below when it was handed over to the city corporation and the barrier was scrapped at that time. Consequently all heavy vehicles, including billet transfer cars and covered vans, began using the route.”

Chattogram Development Authority and the Chattogram City Corporation say a pillar of MA Mannan flyover was damaged due to heavy vehicles plying a ramp built for light vehicles. Photo: Suman Babu

“The ramp was connected to the flyover using a cantilever on the column. Due to the movement of heavier vehicles, the top portion of the pillar cracked. But it can be repaired.”

“As the city corporation watches over it, repair works will begin communicating with them. The ramp will be open to the public once again very soon.”

The CCC’s chief engineer Rafiqul Islam Manik confirmed that they had already spoken to MAX Group who cited the absence of the ramp in the original design.

“It can be repaired. It has to be done by them as they built it,” Manik said. “We’ll now put up a height barrier so heavier vehicles don’t get on it. We’ll send a letter to the CDA as they took care of the main project. They will provide suggestions based on the original design and we’ll do our work.”

LOOP REPLACED BY RAMP

The construction of the flyover started in December 2010 and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened it to the public almost three years later.

Chattogram Development Authority and the Chattogram City Corporation say a pillar of MA Mannan flyover was damaged due to heavy vehicles plying a ramp built for light vehicles. Photo: Suman Babu

Prof Omar Imam, chairman of the Chattogram Elevated Express project’s feasibility study committee, said he did raise the proposal of establishing a loop in a meeting but he was later dropped from consultation.

“The ramp was not connected following the original design. A right-facing loop was proposed. The crack might be caused by the weight transfer of vehicles travelling on and off the flyover using a single ramp.

“I don’t know how the CDA did it. A crack at the moment may be no big deal. But if it was done without making changes to the design, future cracks might pose higher risks.

“The ramp was not made through CDA finances. The funds came through donations facilitated by the then chairman. The government did not fund it, neither was it a government project. The CDA issued no tender or DPP [development project proposal] for it either.”

In November 2012, a girder collapsed during the flyover’s construction, leaving 14 people dead. Earlier in June that year, a rickshaw puller was injured after a girder fell during construction.