Salah Al-Din – Conscious – Falih Al-Obaidi
On Sunday, the Assistant Director of Roads and Bridges in Salah al-Din Governorate, Khaled Saleh Abdullah, explained the reasons for the collapse of the concrete Zarka Bridge, while confirming that the Governor of Salah al-Din Badr al-Fahal directed the mechanisms affiliated with the municipal departments in the governorate to deal with the situation.
Abdullah said in a statement to the (INA): “Today there was a collapse of the last two satellites in Al-Zirka Bridge, which is located on the road linking Al-Touz district and Tikrit, which led to the road being cut off, and it will be reopened after the completion of the remediation work.”
“The collapse that occurred today in the bridge was due to heavy machinery passing over it, and the current part of the bridge was completely submerged as a result of the high storage level in the Al-Azim Dam Lake.”
He continued, speaking about the details related to the bridge, saying, “It is located on the Great Dam and is 1,040 meters long, and consists of 33 spaces,” pointing out that “18 spaces in the bridge were subjected to a complete collapse in the year 2014, and that led at that time to it being out of service and the Tikrit road being cut off until Year 2021.”
Abdullah confirmed, “A temporary regular diversion and an earthen ramp were constructed, along with paving the collapsed section, which was 700 meters long, while taking advantage of the intact part of the bridge.”
He noted that “the designs have been completed and the Department of Roads and Bridges has been approached to create an alternative bridge for this bridge,” demanding that “this project be included in the plan of the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Municipalities, because it serves more than two million people.”