Pune News : Load testing of Hadapsar bridge causes traffic snarls

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Pune : Flyover near Hadapsar Gadital was closed on weekends for load testing to determine load handling capacity of the bridge which caused severe traffic snarls.

Many complained that such unplanned and uninformed closure of road led to long queue of vehicles.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC) constructed said bridge in 2006. In the last year, the bridge had witnessed cracks and hence the bridge was repaired in a phase wise manner.

Hence as per recommendation of the committee, load testing is an important part in the construction of the bridge. According to officials, two trucks carrying loads of 40 tons each were kept on the bridge. After the load, it is expected that the bridge should be deviated for at least 10-12 millimetre. And after the removal of loads of  trucks, the bridge should reach its original position by 95-100 per cent. If these criteria are fulfilled then the bridge will be supposed to be safe and secure.

According to officials, a load test will be conducted at the middle as well as two sides of the bridge.

To conduct the test, the bridge was kept closed for traffic from February 11 to 12.Hadapsar Traffic Division informed that the vehicles will have no entry from February 11, 12:00 midnight to February 12, 23:59 hours for over 48 hours. The department informed that vehicular traffic will continue from Solapur to Pune and Saswad to Pune during this period. 

Bapu Gadade, traffic police inspector told, “Total 45 traffic personnel were deployed to clear the traffic in this locality. 35 traffic personnel were deployed in the morning and 10 were deployed during the night hours.’’