the course of presentations and discussions with various agencies, there were some contradictions in the stand taken by M/s SYSTRA and M/s COWI as regards the extent of proof checking of designs by the Proof Check Consultant. In fact, M/s COWI in their submission dated 28th May, 2010 (Annexure L-21) have stated as follows: “The Design Checker verified the Final Design prior to start of construction. The variations introduced on site were introduced by the BOT Contractor. We expect that all variations were subject to verification and approval of the Designer. The Design Checker was not requested to review any design verification following variations on site from the Final Design. […]” (emphasis supplied) 20.1 The Committee noted that each lateral span of the bridge was supposed to be a monolithic structure. A lateral span is the structure between two support pillars. However, the collapsed lateral span was cast in multiple parts, as noted in the following paragraph: “5.3.3 M/s SYSTRA