Was welding glitch to blame for CST bridge collapse?

A welding failure seems to be one of the causes behind Thursdays CSMT bridge collapse With the onset of a detailed inquiry into the incident that killed six and injured 31 officials are suspecting that a glitch in the welding of iron rods below the flooring might have caused the crash The structural auditor might have failed to inspect the base of the FOBs flooring civic officials believeThe bridge collapsed on Thursday killing six people and injuring 31Also ReadThese railway bridges in Mumbai are declared dangerous but still standingA preliminary inquiry report issued by civic chief Ajoy Mehta on Friday had held Professor DD Desais Associated Engineering Consultants responsible for carrying out the structural audit in an irresponsible and negligent manner and RPS Infrastructure for carrying out repairs that werent up to the markThe inquiry also placed the blame on three junior engineers a retired deputy chief engineer and a retired chief engineer on the BMC While two engineers have been suspended three other civic officials will face a fullfledged departmental inquiryThe contractor who worked on the bridge in 2016 for its beautification has been excluded from the preliminaryinvestigation but will be probed during the detailed inquiry said civic officialsThe CSMT bridge was around 30 years old and had been beautified two years agoStructural repairs on the more than 30yearold CSMT bridge were carried out in 2013 but that did not involve any work on the base The next work on the bridge was directly undertaken in 2016 during its beautification Around the same time Professor DD Desais Associated Engineering Consultants was appointed to examine the bridge The firm however only conducted a preliminary inspection of it and the nondestructive tests to identify its structural stability were carried out only in 2017 after the beautification work was completed The report submitted by the auditor had stated that the bridge was in a good condition without mentioning corrosion on its sidesWith the entire bridge now being dismantled the BMC will carry out a structural check of its debris in police custody through forensic testing said a senior civic officialThe BMC has expressed its dissatisfaction over the 2017 audit that grossly neglected the welding work at the base There is a possibility that the auditors have not checked the base of the steel structure where we suspect the problem might have lied The tests were not carried out properly and the condition was stated to be good which directly points to the auditors mistake along with the bridge department staff a senior civic official saidAlso ReadCST bridge collapse Cops to build 15member team for case against MCGM officialsOppn questions reauditThe BMC is likely to invite shortterm tenders for another auditor to reaudit 38 bridges in the city that were earlier audited by Professor DD Desais Associated Engineering Consultants BMC chief Mehta has also asked structural auditors of the eastern and western suburbs bridges over 200 to begin reauditing their work and submit fresh reports within a month Opposition party members in the BMC have however raised questions over the reauditing by the same auditorsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates