Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh said 600 kg of emulsion explosives were used to undertake the controlled demolition. (Express Photo)The 30-year-old Chandani Chowk bridge in Pune was demolished at 1 am on Sunday via a controlled explosion. However, the explosions were not enough to bring down the bridge, which was later demolished using machines.
Express Photo by Pavan Khengre The traffic on the road, which was closed on Saturday 11 pm, was supposed to be reopened at 8 am on Sunday, as per the announced plan but was pushed further. Demolition expert, Anand Sharma, who supervised the operation, said that that the bridge contained much more steel than they estimated.
Express Photo by Pavan Khengre Edifice Engineering, the company that was assigned the demolition of Noida Supertech twin towers, was hired by the government for the controlled demolition of the bridge which was proving to be a major bottleneck for the traffic on the busy national highway connecting Mumbai and Bangalore.
Express photo by Pavan Khengre Pune district collector Rajesh Deshmukh said 600 kg of emulsion explosives were used to undertake the controlled demolition. Kadam said about 350 people are part of this demolition drive. Fifteen JCBs, 10 forkland machines, and 30 heavy trucks were employed to remove the debris created by the demolition.
Express Photo by Oshwin Khadao Officials had earlier said that demolishing the huge structure in a few seconds and ensuring that the rubble is not scattered everywhere is a challenging task. “To avoid the debris of the bridge flying in the area outside the periphery, 6,500 channel links, 7,500 square metres of geotextile , 500 sand bags and 800 metres rubber mats will be used and residents living within 200 metres of the bridge would be shifted out,” the official added.
Chandani Chowk before it was demolished. (Express photo) 
The traffic was released post demolition. (Express photo by Oshwin Kadhao) 
Vehicular traffic back to normal post the demolition. (Express photo by Oshwin Khadao) #Watch | Pune’s #chandanichowk bridge was demolished at 1 am on Sunday. 📹 Pavan Khengre
Officials on Sunday morning said that it will take a few more hours for traffic to resume as the debris of the bridge wasn’t cleared till 8 am. Read: https://t.co/VjTnI1T5is pic.twitter.com/AKATUQQkjB
— Express PUNE (@ExpressPune) October 2, 2022
Subscriber Only Stories