Bridge construction in India has huge scope for improvement in terms of quality. To this end, the use of pre-engineered structures needs to be promoted and the quality of feasibility studies improved. At the recent Infrabuild event, industry experts shared their views on the needs and requirements for bridge construction, the key challenges faced and emerging technologies in this space. Excerpts…
Suman Chattopadhyay, Sector Lead, Bridges, Geotechnical & Rail, Jacobs India
India has seen rapid growth in major bridge construction over the past few years. There has been significant growth in major crossing projects in India. These major crossing projects face several challenges. One of the key challenges is that procurement agencies are not fully equipped to handle the contract of large-scale projects. Another challenge is the quality of feasibility studies for a project. Due to the lack of proper quality in such studies, design challenges and cost escalations are likely impacts at a later stage. Nevertheless, there are some new trends emerging in the field of bridge construction. These include an increasing use of pre-constructed, pre-fabricated and pre-engineered products in the construction process, which has led to a reduction in execution time and an increase in the quality of bridges. Further, concerted efforts have been made to improve the environmental footprint of materials used in the construction process. One example is the increasing use of recycled fly ash in concrete mix design, which has helped in reduction of carbon footprint and helped in achieving sustainability in bridge construction.
Lt. General Ravi Shankar (Retired), President, ICT
A major gap exists in our bridging capability to respond to emergency needs. When bridges collapse or need quick replacement due to distress we re pond with the Bailey Bridge which is temporary, unsafe and single lane. Numerous national highways are sub-optimally utilised because such bridges remain for years. The rest of the world has shifted to better pre-engineered bridges that are far superior. They are as quick to construct, allow maximum loading as per IRC codes and are permanent bridges providing up to 3 lanes. These are made to very high quality, certified by national organisations. Use of such pre-engineered bridges will speed up bridging and vastly improve both ‘Quality and Timeliness.’ We could enhance quality in local manufacture through similar certification and expert monitoring. Introduction of new technology also needs to be speeded up by quicker decision making mechanisms.
Aditya Sharma, Director, Highways and Structure, Ramboll
There is tremendous scope for improvement in the bridge construction sector for it to achieve its full potential. First, there needs to be a sustained effort to improve feasibility studies. Second, the quality of manpower in the project should be ensured before the implementation of the project. Third, detailed project reports should be carefully evaluated as the absence of certain project features in a report can lead to further contractual negotiations. Fourth, a certain period (like six months) should be given to the contractor to finalise the project design and planning after the award. This helps the contractor in properly deliberating on any hindrances that may occur in the future and can lead to faster execution of the project. Last, as technology progresses, the complexity of projects increases. Hence, concerted efforts should be made for developing skills and building the resource capacity of contractors to help them properly tackle these challenges.