Indian Army begins FOB salvage mission

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army on Saturday took over the site that witnessed the collapse of an underconstruction foot overbridge (FOB) four days ago. Senior Army officers could be seen supervising as jawans unloaded equipment that will be put together to build a Bailey bridge, which will be used by spectators to reach Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. Public Works Department (PWD) also resumed work on the second arched FOB and claimed it will be completed by October 1.

"We will deliver the bridge in time. This is a challenge for us,'' said an Army officer supervising the operation. The bridge of the Bailey component will come up on three piers and have four spans spread over 250 feet.

PWD officials said steel cables conventionally used for suspended bridges will be used in the construction of the Bailey bridge. "Despite the recent setback, we have taken up the challenge to build the 95-m unsupported bridge. We are not using the Macalloy bar suspender technology that was used earlier in case of the bridge that collapsed,'' said a PWD official.

The new bridge is being built at exactly the same point where the FOB had crashed. On Saturday, labourers were busy painting the arch that still stands intact in the colours of a rainbow.

A Bailey bridge a portable pre-fabricated truss bridge is built in emergency situations over rivers in tough terrains or at the time of bridge collapses. The bridge at JN Stadium will be put together using a slightly different technique as it has to be pushed up from the ground and not from the back. Around 800-1000 men have been called in to ensure work gets completed in time.

Meanwhile, PWD has resumed construction work for the other FOB on the same route that will cater to spectators who will park their vehicles at Safdarjung Airport. From there, the spectators will walk up to the Bailey bridge and then walk some more distance before entering the stadium.

A third FOB being built under the Barapullah elevated road to cater to spectators coming from Lala Lajpat Rai Marg will be ready by Monday.

After PWD's underconstruction FOB collapsed, an alternative movement plan for spectators was worked out. Security reasons were cited to necessitate a rethink on the alternate plan which proposed to forego the FOBs and instead work out a route which entailed a longer walk. The walk via the alternative route to the stadium would have been nearly 1-km long, senior officials said.