Bridge approach road collapses in Jashore

The approach road on one end of a newly constructed bridge in Manirampur upazila of Jashore has collapsed, snapping connectivity between two villages.

The 13.20-metre bridge was constructed over a local swamp known as Jhapa Baor in May last year under the supervision of the Upazila Engineering Department at a cost of Tk 1.92 crore.

An additional Tk 35.66 lakh was allocated for the 523-metre herringbone brick (HBB) approach roads on both sides. Nearly 100 metres of the approach road on one end of the bridge caved in on Sunday night.

Locals alleged that the road collapsed even without any rainfall due to substandard work and poor supervision.

Khaledur Rahman Titu, a member of Jhapa Union Parishad, said the road through the swamp was raised by dumping soil, but brick soling was done without properly compacting the soil, leading to the collapse.

Nishit Basu, contractor of the project, denied the allegations. “There was no irregularity in the work. The road collapsed as it could not bear the load due to silt accumulation beneath the roadbed,” he claimed.

Echoing him, Khalequzzaman, assistant engineer of the Upazila Engineering Department, said the cause of the collapse had been identified and repair work would begin from next Saturday.