Nitin Gadkari instructs getting safety audit of all NHAI bridges

NEW DELHI: Road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has instructed National highways Authority of India (NHAI) to get the safety audit of all bridges under its jurisdiction done on priority basis.

"NHAI has asked its field units to get all old bridges under NHAI’s jurisdiction inspected through project director, independent engineer and DPR consultants for their fitness," a statement from road transport and highways ministry said.

This comes in the aftermath of the collapse of bridge on the Mumbai-Goa expressway last week in which over 25 people were killed. However, the bridge which collapsed does not fall under the jurisdiction of NHAI.

Road transport and highways ministry has already launched an integrated bridge management system that has been developed to contain details of all bridges. The system will have details of 1.5 lakh bridges laid across the country. It will help the ministry to do proper safety audits of all the bridges.

As per a senior government official, bridges will be rated as per their age and quality. Roads ministry has set aside a budget of Rs 300 crore for the project. Currently, the system has details of 50,000 bridges and more will be added within six months.