KOLKATA: Instrumentation of new Majerhat bridge, which will make it the safest such structure in the city, is likely to start at the end of this month.
Installing the instrumentation technology or real-time advanced structural health monitoring of the four-lane cable-stayed bridge will be over by March. However, traffic movement will not be affected while the new bridge is equipped with sensors that will keep an eye on its daily maintenance.
About 30 smart sensors will be fitted around the structure to check how it behaves under mobile vehicular load. The sensors are due to arrive from Germany in about a fortnight’s time. “We should commission the instrumentation by March,” said an engineer of the state public works department (PWD), the implementing agency of the reconstructed bridge. Haryana-based SP Singla has built the bridge. The company has assigned an international firm that specializes in instrumentation.
A span of the lifeline, which is actually a road overbridge (ROB), fell on 4 September 2018. The chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, opened the new bridge on December 3 last year. A 260m length of the new 650m cable-stayed bridge stands over the Eastern Railway (ER) tracks. The old bridge that collapsed had weakened due to the lack of maintenance. The new bridge is set to have a superior technology installed to monitor the issues that can compromise its integrity. “The wireless sensors will measure the bridge’s overall integrity, using indicators like strain, vibration and flexibility to show whether the structure is functioning well or there are issues that need to be taken care of,” said an engineer.