The collapse of a 30-metre-long girder of the flyover on the Lucknow-Faizabad highway last week in which four people had lost their lives was caused by slipping of bearings due to some manual fault.

This is the prima facie findings of a two-member expert committee of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) that began its probe here on Tuesday. Prof A K Nagpal, Head of Department of Civil Engineering at IIT-Delhi, and Mahesh Tandon, Managing Director of Tandon Consultant Private Limited, New Delhi, inspected the flyover and collected samples of construction materials with the help of IIT-Kanpur experts.

After examining the structure of the flyover, Tandon, who is also an expert in construction of bridge, said: “The girder collapsed due to slipping of the bearings. But why it slipped is yet to be ascertained. We are focusing on this aspect.” He said that such an incident happens due to a series of faults. “For example, someone could have deliberately disturbed the metallic pieces underneath the girder,” he said. About the remaining three girders that are still intact, Tandon said that during the inspection, the girders were found safe for continuing the work.

On asked who could be responsible for the accident, Nagpal said, “The details of the fault that resulted in the accident would be reported to the NHAI within 21 days and it will later decide on who was responsible for it.” The NHAI has also called a team of experts from IIIT- Kanpur, to collect samples of construction materials used in the flyover. The team, led by Prof A K Bajpai of Structure Design Department, also tested the strength of the beams.

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