By Our Reporter
Shillong, Nov 3: The Power Department has requested the Transport Department to ban overloaded trucks from plying on the bridge that spans the Umiam concrete dam’s spillway.
Josephine Nongbet, the Under Secretary of the Power Department, wrote a letter to the Commissioner and Secretary of the Transport department stating that the safety audit report of the spillway, which was obtained from the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, is self-explanatory.
She stated that the IIT-G’s recommendations state that the bridge’s maximum allowable weight is 15 MT and that “heavy-loaded vehicles should not be permitted until retrofitting of distressed members (i.e., girder beam and deck slab)”.
“In light of this, we ask that you amend your department’s standing order, which currently limits the gross weight of heavy-laden vehicles exceeding 20 MT to 15 MT. Please give this top consideration,” she said.