The Pravda daily quoted experts as saying that last November’s fatal collapse of the D1 highway bridge in Prešov Region (near the municipality of Kurimany) occurred as a result of efforts to save €10,000 on the construction of the bridge’s support frame. Experts have proven that cutting costs led to defects in the support frame, which caused the bridge to collapse, killing four workers.
The additional €10,000 would have improved the stability of the bridge’s support frame enough to prevent a collapse, Pravda quoted the experts in its Tuesday, January 29, issue. The investigators have already delivered the results of their investigation to the National Highway Company, the daily added. The installation of the bridge’s support frame cost a total of €322,000.
[The collapsed bridge was supposed to be part of the cross-country D1 highway section between Jánovce and Jablonov, which is being constructed by a consortium of two companies: Váhostav-SK and Czech firm Bögl & Krýsl. The section includes five bridges. The collapsed bridge was the only one built in cooperation with a subcontractor, the Slovak company Semos. The collapsed frame was supplied by German-owned firm Skruže Weise, ed. note.]
(Source: Pravda)
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
