Kolkata flyover: Political push, tech faultcould be crash cause
加爾各答立交橋：政治推動，技術缺陷也許是坍塌原因KOLKATA: The inordinate delay in executingthe work and Mamata Banerjee’s subsequent rush to open the 2.2km Vivekananda Road flyover seem to be its undoing,literally.The 2.2-km Vivekananda Road flyover, beingconstructed since 2009, has been beset by delays. Has the delay caused fatiguein execution? Amid perpetual postponement, in November last year, chiefminister Mamata Banerjee announced opening the flyover by February 2016, notcaring that 24% of the work was still left.
工程無節製的延遲，以及瑪瑪塔班納吉隨後急著開放2.2公裏長的維韋卡南達路立交橋，似乎是禍根。
2.2公裏長的維韋卡南達路立交橋從2009年開始修建，一直受拖延所困擾。是否是延期導致了施工疲勞？在無限期推遲後，去年11月，首席部長瑪瑪塔班納吉宣布要在2016年2月份開放那座立交橋，全然不顧24%的工程有待完工。
With an eye on the assembly elections, thechief minister in November last year-at a Jagaddhatri Puja event-had declaredthe inauguration of the flyover by February 2016, ostensibly not paying muchthought to the fact that 24% of the work was left. Informed by her urbandevelopment minister Firhad Hakim that the deadline was implausible, sherelented to postpone the date but maintained that it should be finished bySeptember. As a result, immense pressure was apparently put on the implementingagency, KMDA, and builder IVRCL to meet the deadline, the 10th since theproject started in 2009.
考慮到議會選舉就要來臨，首席部長瑪瑪塔班納吉去年11月宣布，要在2016年2月為這座立交橋舉行完工典禮，全然不顧這樣一個事實，即24%的工程還沒完成。城市發展部長FirhadHakim表示這一截止期限是難以置信的，為此她同意推遲完工的日期，但是堅持要在9月份之前完工。結果，施工方受到了巨大壓力。After a little over six years, only 0.9km of the 2.2km flyover has been constructed, to add up to 59spans. It is the 60th span that was being cast which collapsed on Thursday. Thecasting was on for two days, but the work, carried out from Wednesday midnighttill 5am on Thursday, was faulty, engineers suspected. They said the 100m span, or the deck slab-cum-girder fortwo stands, could have given way due to a failure of a pier in between.
6年多來，2.2公裏長的立交橋隻修建了0.9公裏，澆築了59個橋段，正是第60個正在澆築的橋段在3月31日坍塌了。澆築持續了兩天，從3月30日深夜持續到31日淩晨5點，但是工程師懷疑施工存在缺陷。他們稱，跨度100米的橋段可能是橋墩不結實而坍塌的。
Though junior urban development ministerBabul Supriyo blamed the design, an engineer said: “It looks more like a constructionfailure. Some error might have occurred in the construction procedure ormaintaining the sequence.” IVRCL group head (HR and administration) K Panduranga Rao pointedout that the crash was caused by a missing girder. “One girdle missed leading to asecond one to fall off,” he said.
城市規劃部長BabulSupriyo將其歸咎於設計，一位工程師說：“看起來更像是施工失敗。施工過程中也許出現一些失誤。”IVRCL集團指出，立交橋坍塌是少了一根大梁導致的。
