There is some confusion regarding if this bridge collapse was intentional or not because it had suffered the first collapse during Apr 2022. The previous news reported in 2022 that the Sultanganj end collapsed owing to the impact of strong winds and rains in the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.
However it is interesting to see the two towers collapsed in different modes.
The far end tower's column looks like V-shape but are twin vertical columns. The photo shows the far column broken off and the near column pivoted at the base so that the deck rotated anticlockwise with the mid span hit the water. It is noteworthy to point out some but not all cables appeared to snap off. If the collapse was intentional then the explosives would have been placed at different position of the twin columns. If the collapse wasn't intentional then the far column appeared to suffer a tension failure during the deck rotation.
The near tower shows clearly the twin columns folded at the bottom. The deck appears to move horizontally away from the shore. Again two possibilities. Had the collapse been intentional the explosives would have been placed at the same location at the bottom of the columns and none on the cables as none was broken. Once some concrete blasted off the joint became a hinge to effect a controlled collapse. Although the video did not show any explosion at the base of the twin columns. Then again if the collapse wasn't controlled then this tower wasn't stable on its own when the horizontal restraints was removed at the midspan due to the far tower failed first. Normally the tower would have been stable and able to stand on its own but the cables angles are relatively small resulting large horizontal component force (especially when construction loads were unequal on either side of the tower). This cable-stayed geometry is different by having relatively short tower with wider fan than normal.
Nearly all Indian official channels claimed the bridge collapsed but one Indian Express media claimed it was a demolition because some government officials alleged the bridge has some design flaws, collapsed previously once before, could not afford to wait and should be demolished even before a final report was submitted.
