Cyrus Mistry: One of the significant lessons from the September disaster involving industrialist Cyrus Mistry and his automobile colliding on a bridge is that the Center is now considering installing crash barriers in place of railings on all current bridges.
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Mistry and his buddy Jehangir Pandole’s death
Mistry and his buddy Jehangir Pandole, the global strategy director of KPMG in London, died when Mistry’s automobile collided with the parapet wall of a bridge on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway near Palghar. Overspeeding, the lack of seat belts for the passengers in the back seats, and the lack of a crash barrier on the bridge’s parapet wall, which could have lessened the force of the collision, were some of the causes of the deadly accident.
The discovery of the bridge parapet wall jutting into the shoulder lane was another factor mentioned as contributing to the disaster. The Surya River Charoti bridge, which had two lanes, was this one.
On December 14, the Roads and Highways Ministry circulated a circular to all states and top NHAI officials outlining the necessity of installing crash barriers in place of the existing bridge railings.“It is seen that in existing bridges retained without widening, existing railing is usually not replaced by crash barrier. The provision of crash barrier is essentially required for safety of vehicular traffic but there is apprehension about structural suitability of replacing railing of existing bridges without widening. The matter has been carefully examined in the ministry,” according to the most recent circular.
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Circular outlines new decisions
The circular outlines new decisions such as the vertical reinforcement of crash barriers on their traffic faces to be connected to kerb reinforcement, the sufficiency of the same to be checked with respect to design loads, and the quality of concrete in the deck slab to be determined by non-destructive testing before replacing railing with crash barriers.
The latest circular also states, “Crash barrier is to be provided on all new bridges with or without footpath at the edge of the carriageway. As per two-laning manual, wherever the existing bridges are to be retained with or without widening, crash barrier in the inside and pedestrian railings on outer side of the footpath shall be provided. In the four-laning manual, it is specified that the railing of existing bridges shall be with crash barrier.”
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