BDT 3.5m Barishal Bridge Collapses Into Canal During Rain

Severe questions surrounding construction standards and oversight have emerged in Barishal’s Gournadi sub-district after a BDT 3.5 million bridge collapsed midway through its concrete casting phase. The project, funded by the Department of Disaster Management, suffered a disastrous failure on Wednesday afternoon when its supporting shuttering gave way, plunging a significant portion of the freshly poured structure into the canal below.

The incident unfolded in the remote village of Ahammadkathi, situated within the Khanjapur Union of Gournadi Upazila, directly in front of the local Mridha residence. According to eyewitnesses and site workers, heavy rainfall coincided with the pouring of concrete, placing immense pressure on an already compromised support framework. By Thursday afternoon, roughly half of the under-construction bridge remained submerged in the canal waters, whilst the remaining exposed casting was visibly washed out and ruined by the torrents.

Negligence and Substandard Materials Cited

Initial accounts from local residents and workers on-site point towards catastrophic structural oversight and the use of severely substandard materials. The shuttering structure, intended to bear the immense dead weight of wet concrete, had reportedly been erected using decayed and old bamboo poles anchored insecurely into the canal bed.

“As soon as we finished the casting, the rainfall began, and almost immediately, the entire section collapsed into the canal,” said Abu Taleb, a construction worker at the site. “The shuttering underneath was built using old, inferior-quality bamboo that simply could not sustain the load. Two of us narrowly escaped with our lives.”

Officially, the contract for the BDT 3.5 million project was awarded through a public tendering process to a firm named Dynamic IT Shop. However, in a practice that has drawn sharp criticism from transparency advocates, the execution rights were subsequently transferred or sold to an individual contractor, Abul Fayez Sharif, who managed the physical construction.

Speaking on the incident, contractor Abul Fayez Sharif conceded that structural failure was the primary cause:

“The supporting framework beneath was not rigid enough. Consequently, as the casting commenced, the shuttering failed under the weight. We plan to erect new shuttering and redo the casting process.”

Regulatory Absence and Official Response

The collapse has exposed critical gaps in local administration and project supervision. Gournadi Upazila Project Implementation Officer (PIO) Khokon Chandra Das revealed that the contractor had proceeded with the vital casting phase without notifying the relevant monitoring authorities or procuring required site inspections.

“The contractor carried out the casting work without informing our office,” PIO Khokon Chandra Das stated. “We were subsequently notified that the shuttering along with the casting had collapsed into the canal. The matter has been formally escalated to higher authorities, and appropriate departmental action will follow a thorough inquiry.”

Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Md. Ibrahim assured that a rigorous investigation is underway to determine accountability, promising that no leniency would be extended if corruption or negligence is uncovered.

“The incident is being investigated with the utmost seriousness,” said UNO Md. Ibrahim. “If any irregularities or deviations in quality standards are proven, strict administrative measures will be taken against the responsible contractor under existing statutory rules. Furthermore, the contractor will be mandated to reconstruct the damaged portion at their own expense.”

Broader Context of Infrastructure Vulnerabilities

This collapse in Gournadi reflects a broader, persistent challenge within regional rural infrastructure projects across Bangladesh. Projects managed under local disaster relief and rural development budgets frequently face public scrutiny over sub-contracting practices, where primary winning bidders offload works to local third parties, often diluting oversight and reducing material quality to maximise profit margins.

The use of temporary bamboo staging (shuttering) rather than rigid steel scaffolding remains widespread in rural canal and river crossing constructions. When paired with inadequate soil bearing capacity assessments in marshy terrain like Barishal, heavy monsoon rains often trigger sudden structural shifts. Local residents of Khanjapur Union have voiced deep frustration over the loss of public funds, calling for an independent investigation team from outside the immediate district level to assess structural integrity across all ongoing public works in the Upazila.