Japanese contractor can better explain cause of fatal metro bearing pad accident: DMTCL engineer
“No irregularities were detected during our monitoring, so today’s accident was completely unexpected,” he said.
The Japanese contractor responsible for the Farmgate section of the Dhaka Metro Rail would be best positioned to explain the cause of today's (26 October) fatal accident, in which a bearing pad fell from the structure and killed a pedestrian, said an engineer of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL).
Speaking to The Business Standard, Md Arifur Rahman, assistant engineer (civil) of MRT Line-6, said, "We initially suspect that the accident may have occurred due to design or installation flaws. However, we haven't yet received a full explanation from the contractor.
"The defect notification period is still ongoing. The contractor and consulting firm for this section are Japanese, and they will be able to explain the issue in detail. We don't fully understand it yet."
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He added, "After last year's accident, the Japanese side advised us to regularly monitor the bearing pads. We have been doing so and even used drones for inspections.
"No irregularities were detected during our monitoring, so today's accident was completely unexpected."
Pointing out that similar incidents have occurred in other countries, Arifur said, "Research papers show records of bearing pad failures in different parts of the world.
"Still, such accidents are never acceptable. We have long been asking the Japanese company to identify the exact locations and causes of potential problems, but the consulting firm has repeatedly said that everything is fine."
