Concrete girder of bridge collapses at MRTS worksite in Thillai Ganga Nagar

It slipped on one end due to a lifting jack failure when it was being launched over the elevated arrangement. The work is being done to multi-track the line between Velachery and St. Thomas Mount stations

The concrete girder that collapsed at Thillai Ganga Nagar on Thursday. | Photo Credit: B. VELANKANNI RAJ

A concrete girder of a Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) bridge, which is under construction in Thillai Ganga Nagar, collapsed on Thursday evening.

The girder, which would have been one of the two elevated bridges on which the track would have been installed, crashed inside a barricaded portion of the southern stretch of Inner Ring Road at Thillai Ganga Nagar in Palavanthangal. However, no one was injured in the incident.

B. Guganesan, Chief Public Relations Officer of Southern Railway, said the work of launching concrete girders was in progress in connection with the multi-tracking of the mass rapid transit system (MRTS) railway line between Velachery and St. Thomas Mount stations.

At 6.15 p.m. on Thursday, when launching a 40-meter concrete girder over the elevated alignment (between pier nos. 157 and 158) at Thillai Ganga Nagar, using synchronised hydraulic jacks, it slipped on one end due to a lifting jack failure. Since the traffic had been diverted to the other side of the road and with all necessary safety precautions in place at the site, no one was injured and nothing was damaged.

Mr. Guganesan said the Southern Railway had ordered an inquiry into the incident. The railway administration was making all efforts to remove the fallen girder, he added.

A senior official of the city police said a portion of the elevated structure collapsed at 6.30 p.m. in Thillai Ganga Nagar. Immediately after the occurrence, the Adambakkam police cordoned off the area to prevent anyone from entering the accident site.