Jammu Flood: Army engineers restore Tawi’s 4th bridge with 110-foot Bailey Bridge in just 12 hours
Jammu, Aug 29: Army engineers of the Tiger Division Friday laid a 110-foot bailey bridge, replacing the eastern span of Jammu’s crucial 4th Tawi bridge, severely damaged by the August 26 floods, in just 12 hours, restoring vehicle movement.
The army said as the repair of the damaged bridge span was likely to take time, its engineers constructed the Bailey bridge in a little time span under challenging conditions and limited workspace.
General Officer Commanding (GOC) Tiger Division Major General Mukesh Bhanwala, in a press briefing, stated, “Severely damaged by floods, the eastern portion of Jammu’s vital Tawi bridge number 4, a lifeline for movement, was revived as engineers of Tiger Division laid this bridge. The bridge has been completed in less than 12 hours, enabling vehicular movement, overcoming washed-out approaches and limited work space, and restoring vehicular movement under challenging circumstances.”
He said that the Indian Army’s efforts were in close coordination with civil administration and all agencies.
“We thank all of them for their support. Additional army resources remain on standby to tackle any emerging challenges,” GOC Tiger Division assured.
Major General Bhanwala said that the recent heavy rains triggered floods across Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Pathankot, and Gurdaspur, causing widespread damage to infrastructure and impacting our people.
“Responding with urgency, the Indian Army immediately launched large-scale rescue and relief operations in close coordination with the civil administration. Since 26 August, Indian Army soldiers of Rising Star Corps have braved floodwaters and adverse weather, deploying multiple rescue columns supported by Army and Air Force helicopters,” GOC Tiger Division said.
He said that the Army proactively employed the required number of columns along with requisite equipment and rescued nearly 1,000 stranded personnel, including children, students, and paramilitary personnel, while also restoring critical communication links to Jammu and Srinagar by swiftly laying alternative Optical Fibre Cables (OFC) lines.
Alongside rescue, essential medical aid, food, and relief material were provided to affected families, he said.
Earlier, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Traffic Farooq Qaiser, while speaking to media, said that the portion of the 4th (Tawi) bridge collapsed on August 26.
“Following the collapse, immediately traffic was stopped, keeping in view people’s safety. However, yesterday morning we restored one-way traffic. Work to construct the Bailey bridge (by the army) was on. Its completion would restore two-way connectivity to facilitate people,” SSP Traffic said.
