[swarnava.m]

Concrete ceiling slabs fell onto moving vehicles deep inside a long Japanese highway tunnel, and authorities confirmed nine deaths before suspending rescue work today while the roof was being reinforced to prevent more collapses.

The nine dead were travelling in three vehicles in the tunnel about 80 km (50 miles) west of Tokyo on a highway that links the capital to central Japan.

Full story here and here.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

Concrete ceiling slabs fell onto moving vehicles deep inside a long Japanese highway tunnel, and authorities confirmed nine deaths before suspending rescue work today while the roof was being reinforced to prevent more collapses.

Thats bad, real bad. The vehicles must have been caught by surprise without any time to react.

I feel a couple of tunnels on the Pune E-way too are in such condition, every time I pass them I have a prayer on my lips, esp in monsoons when there is some amount of rainfall/water seepage happening within the tunnels. The Amrutanjan bridge specially, looks like an antique bridge with a fair amount of chances of collapse.

[srishiva]

Dont they use circular concrete rings everywhere on tunnels? Atleast something that should not be falling down without adequate support from the walls.
Sad news, you have to wonder what all could happen in our country.

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Thats bad, real bad. The vehicles must have been caught by surprise without any time to react.

I feel a couple of tunnels on the Pune E-way too are in such condition, every time I pass them I have a prayer on my lips, esp in monsoons when there is some amount of rainfall/water seepage happening within the tunnels. The Amrutanjan bridge specially, looks like an antique bridge with a fair amount of chances of collapse.

Originally Posted by srishiva

Dont they use circular concrete rings everywhere on tunnels? Atleast something that should not be falling down without adequate support from the walls.
Sad news, you have to wonder what all could happen in our country.

Exactly. And all the while we have heard that all construction related stuff in Japan is top notch. They build their buildings to resist earthquake effects. And now we hear the experts say that the concrete slabs have detoriated due to vibrations from passing vehicles and earthquakes. How bad can it get? And what kind of standards does that show for road transport networks in India?

[Omtoatom]

Very very unfortunate and saddening. Pains me to read about such road accidents where the less fortunate have to suffer (am being gentle here) for no fault of theirs.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I feel a couple of tunnels on the Pune E-way too are in such condition, every time I pass them I have a prayer on my lips, esp in monsoons when there is some amount of rainfall/water seepage happening within the tunnels. The Amrutanjan bridge specially, looks like an antique bridge with a fair amount of chances of collapse.

I know exactly what you're referring to bro. Being a regular commuter on the E-way, I have also found myself commenting a few times on their seemingly vulnerable/precarious state when passing through that tunnel and bridge section. Considering the heavy vehicular load and resulting abuse they take everyday, coupled with zilch to very little maintenance, I shudder to think what would happen if such a mishap were to happen here. Would be nothing less than a catastrophe, no?

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

And all the while we have heard that all construction related stuff in Japan is top notch. They build their buildings to resist earthquake effects. And now we hear the experts say that the concrete slabs have detoriated due to vibrations from passing vehicles and earthquakes. How bad can it get? And what kind of standards does that show for road transport networks in India?

All the more reason for the engineers to keep evaluating the current situation across our important state and national roadways and take corrective/maintenance steps. Deterioration, through forces of nature or wear-and-tear is only natural. We just have to learn to tackle it.

[Enigmatic]

This is indeed very sad news.
May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

The least that our country can do is learn from such misfortunes of others and improve on our existing infrastructure. But sadly that's also asking for too much .

[SS-Traveller]

Some interesting insights from two highly qualified structural engineers, into the reasons behind the tunnels collapsing...

These tunnels are 40-50 years old and are probably due for strengthening or replacement.

From what I've seen on the TV the tunnel is a cut and cover type? So not so strong as a true tunnel that has arching strength. Hope they have established the reason for this failure and then other such tunnels could be appraised for their vulnerability and rendered safe if necessary