Pune civic body undertakes repair and maintenance of seven old bridges

December 02, 2024 at 06:30 IST

Following the collapse of the Savitri River Bridge in Konkan in 2018, the state government made structural audit of all bridges in all municipalities mandatory.

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has undertaken repair and maintenance of seven old bridges, using hydraulic jacks used to lift the bridges and replace their supports. Earlier, the PMC had conducted a structural audit of 40 city bridges older than 10 years – after the Sadhu Vaswani Bridge in Pune Cantonment area was found to be in an unsafe condition – to find that most of the bridges were in good condition, but the bearings in some of them needed to be replaced.

While bearings generally need to be replaced every 15 to 20 years, bearings on some of Pune’s bridges are being replaced for the first time in 35 years. (MAHENDRA KOLHE/HT PHOTO)

While bearings generally need to be replaced every 15 to 20 years, bearings on some of Pune’s bridges are being replaced for the first time in 35 years.

Following the collapse of the Savitri River Bridge in Konkan in 2018, the state government made structural audit of all bridges in all municipalities mandatory. During the first phase, the PMC project department conducted an audit of some flyovers, including the Hadapsar and Sadhu Vaswani flyovers, identifying the need for their repair and maintenance. It was found that 80% of the city’s bridges were constructed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). When the PMC contacted the MSRDC for the original plans of these bridges, they were found to be unavailable. The PMC then engaged an independent consultancy firm to prepare new plans which have now been completed and repairs to the bridges have been undertaken accordingly.

Yuvraj Deshmukh, chief superintendent engineer of the project department, said, “The municipal corporation has appointed consultancy firms to conduct a structural audit of 40 bridges. Based on the audit findings, maintenance and repair work is underway. Main tasks include filling cracks and replacing bearings. Repairs to seven bridges in Pune are in the final stages. Hydraulic jacks are used to raise the bridges to replace the bearings. Among these, the replacement of the bearings of two bridges is still in progress but will be completed in the coming days.

Bearing capacity under surveillance

After discovering problems with the Hadapsar and Sadhu Vaswani flyovers, the PMC decided to conduct an audit of the design and structure of the bridges whose original plans were not available. The audit covered 40 bridges over 10 years old. So far, a consulting company has carried out the audit of 38 bridges. Although the general condition of these bridges is satisfactory, the reports highlight the urgency of replacing their supporting devices. The PMC learned from the Hadapsar flyover experience that although bearings typically last 15 to 20 years, they often need to be replaced sooner to ensure safety.