23 days later, tanker still hangs on Mahi bridge
On Friday, the operation to salvage the tanker was launched.
After directives from chief minister Bhupendra Patel, the Anand district administration roped in the Porbandar-based Marine Emergency Response Centre (MERC), which in turn called in experts from Singapore.
MERC was recently engaged by the Coast Guard to salvage the Singapore-flagged container vessel Wan Hai 503, which had caught fire off the coast of Kozhikode in Kerala on June 8 while en route from Colombo to Mumbai with more than 800 tonnes of a hazardous mix of industrial chemicals.
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"A team of 20 from MERC is camping in Bamangam for the operation, which is expected to take a couple of days," said Anand district collector Praveen Chaudhary.
"MERC has expertise in salvaging cargo ships, with the weights involved being over 500 tonnes. It will use balloon technology to salvage the 12-tonne tanker," he said.
Flexible high-pressure airbags will be positioned under the tanker and inflated to lift the front of the vehicle, which has been dangling dangerously facing the river 50 feet below.
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"On Friday, the MERC team finished rigging work on the broken slab," said Chaudhary. Sources said the CM has emphasized that the operation be carried out with "zero incident". They added that MERC is carrying out this operation pro bono.
Officials said that in the final stage, there will be no human movement on the bridge structure, for which the entire site has been cordoned off.
On why the tanker is not pulled out, Chaudhary said it was simply not an option.
"From an engineering point of view, Pier 5 on which the tanker is stationed is cantilevered, which means it is a rigid structure that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. The work is tricky as Pier 5 is not taking the load and the tanker is tilted towards the river," he said.
The tanker, which had been carrying hydrochloric acid, was emptied in Ahmedabad and was headed back to Dahej for a refill. When the bridge collapsed, the tanker driver jumped out and managed to clamber onto a stable part of the bridge.
He saw many vehicles and people plunging into the river.
The tanker belongs to Shivam Roadlines in Ankleshwar. Its owner has made representations for speedy recovery of his vehicle, for which he pays a monthly EMI of about Rs 1 lakh. "I have spoken to the state-level bankers committee requesting that his EMIs be deferred for four months," said Chaudhary.
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