20 earth moving machines, ingenious methods by army make roadway bridge on Chakki river safe again
Army engineers secured the piers of the road bridge using ingenious methods executed over a distance of almost 1km
After flash floods and torrential rains washed away the rail bridge on the Chakki river in Kangra district, the Indian Army was called in by the civil administration to prevent the at-risk road traffic bridge adjacent to it.
On August 20, significant sections of the railway bridge on Chakki river on the Pathankot-Jogindernagar rail route had collapsed after repeated flash floods. After its collapse, water flow accelerated soil erosion towards the piers of the adjacent 500m roadway bridge. The only way to protect the road bridge, which is the key link road between Pathankot and Dharamshala, was to divert the forceful waters.
At the request of the Kangra administration, the Rising Star Corps mobilised a column of heavy earth-moving equipment and immediately commenced the operation for diversion of waters of Chakki river and prevent further erosion.
Civil equipment of NHAI were also operated by the army personnel to augment the diversion efforts. Simultaneously, army engineers secured the piers of the road bridge using ingenious methods executed over a distance of almost 1km.
“The untiring efforts of the Rising Star Corps in torrential currents exceeding 8 knots through deep channels in the Chakki river ensured that a disaster was avoided and the life line of the Kangra district and a strategically important bridge connecting Punjab to Leh was made safe,” an official statement mentioned.
More than 20 heavy earth moving equipment worked round-the-clock for 96 hours to ensure that the Chakki river bridge was made safe to ply on, it added. The efforts were also in coordination with NHAI.
