The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has established a new design division aimed at enhancing the oversight and quality of bridge and structure design and construction activities.

The NHAI’s design division has been created to effectively review the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of bridges, specialised structures, tunnels, and reinforced earth (RE) walls on national highways throughout India. This initiative, according to a statement from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, will encompass a wide range of tasks, including:

1. Formulating policies and guidelines for bridge and structure projects.
2. Reviewing project plans, new bridge construction, condition assessments, and rehabilitation efforts for existing bridges.
3. Monitoring the health of critical structures through instrumentation.
4. Assessing the design and construction of standalone bridges, specialised structures, and projects beginning after June 2023.
5. Evaluating construction methodologies, temporary structures, lifting and launching methods, and prestressing techniques for selected bridges and structures with spans exceeding 200 meters.
6. Scrutinising ongoing projects involving bridges or structures longer than 200 meters.
7. Conducting random reviews of designs for bridges over 60 meters, structures and tunnels exceeding 200 meters, RE walls taller than 10 meters, and other specialised structures.
8. Engaging advisers, consultants, and experts for design reviews, including specialists from IITs/NITs and other academic institutions.
9. Organising certification courses through the Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE) and Indian Railways Institute of Civil Engineering (IRICEL).
10. Developing an IT-based monitoring system for bridge inventory, distressed bridge identification, and annual repair and construction plans.
11. Establishing a team of experts to analyse failures and provide preventive guidelines.

This strategic move by the NHAI aims to bolster in-house capabilities for designing, verifying, and constructing critical infrastructure like bridges and structures, as numerous national highway projects are currently underway across the country. The design division’s comprehensive approach to oversight and expertise development is expected to contribute significantly to the overall quality and safety of India’s national highway network.