Dharamshala, June 24 -- A 190-foot-long iron Bailey bridge on National Highway-5 near Urni Dhank collapsed into the Sutlej riverbed on Tuesday morning, disrupting the traffic movement between Shimla and the tribal districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti during the peak tourist season. The incident occurred at 10.20am when a dumper truck crossing the bridge plunged into the riverbed below as the structure gave way, police said. The driver sustained minor injuries. The collapse triggered immediate gridlock on the highway, leaving queues of vehicles stranded on both sides. Traffic has since been diverted through an old, alternate alignment near the site, where officials are regulating vehicular movement to ease the bottleneck. Kinnaur deputy commissioner (DC) Amit Kumar Sharma said the bridge had structural issues, which had previously been flagged to the national highways wing of the public works department (PWD). While minor repair work had been carried out in the past, the structure ultimately failed. Officials are currently assessing the extent of the damage, and the local administration is expecting that the bridge will be restored in around 10-15 days. Meanwhile, revenue and horticulture minister, Jagat Singh Negi, said the bridge collapse was caused by an overloaded vehicle, which exceeded the bridge's prescribed load capacity and not due to any technical or material defect. Negi said preliminary findings indicate that an overloaded truck crossed the bridge,exceeding its prescribed carrying capacity of around 10tonnes. "The bridge had a fixed load-bearing capacity. A fully loaded heavy vehicle crossed it despite restrictions. Photographs clearly show the overloaded vehicle that fell along with the bridge. When any structure is subjected to loads beyond its design capacity, such incidents can occur," he told the media. "This was an unmanned bridge where compliance depended on vehicle operators adhering to prescribed limits. Action will be taken against those found responsible for violating load restrictions," Negi said. The minister said there would be no major disruption to traffic movement as an alternative road remains operational. "Fortunately, the old alignment is already open. Its width has been improved and strengthening work has been completed. Traffic was immediately diverted after the incident, ensuringthat commuters do not facesignificant inconvenience," he said....