Annual rehabilitation, reconstruction of existing national highways

The development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs), including bridges, is a continuous process. As a result, annual repair, rehabilitation, or reconstruction of existing NHs, including old or distressed bridges, is undertaken. Repair, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of old or distressed bridges are undertaken either separately or as part of the improvement or upgradation of a section of the National Highway. The nature and extent of various distresses, functional requirements, current loading versus the loading for which a specific bridge was designed, and so on, all influence the repair or rehabilitation treatment.

The bidding documents for contractor or concessionaire procurement for NH projects under various modes of implementation (EPC/HAM/BOT) clearly specify the bidders’ technical and financial qualification requirements. Such qualification requirements are determined by the cost and size of NH projects, as well as specific project components such as bridges and tunnels. Furthermore, in order to ensure that roads are constructed in accordance with the standards and specifications outlined in the contract or concession agreement and to avoid project delays, the Ministry issued SOP on October 6, 2021, and January 4, 2022, to debar, penalise, or declare the contractor or concessionaire in NHs and other centrally sponsored road projects.

Except for some old bridges, the year of construction or approximate age of a bridge is generally known. For the periodical assessment of the physical condition of bridges, the Ministry follows a well-established system of inspection and maintenance protocol. The Indian Roads Congress (IRC) has published a manual with detailed guidelines for bridge inspections and condition surveys. In addition, MoRT&H has issued guidelines for this purpose. Between 2015 and 2019, MoRT&H collected inventory and condition data on all bridges on the National Highways. A mobile bridge inspection unit was used to gain close access to various critical bridge components during bridge inspection. MoRT&H recently engaged a consultant to develop a bridge management system (BMS) for NHs by May 2024. The BMS will provide an online platform for monitoring the health of all bridges along the country’s highways.