Road-owning agencies asked to complete digital inventory, survey of bridges

THe regime has directed road-owning agencies, including say public workings departments, the subject Highways authorisation of India, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd and the Border Roads Organisation, to complete a nationwide digital inventory and condition survey of bridges by September 30.The survey will be done under a new Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS) aimed at improving safety through continuous monitoring and timely maintenance.The directive for the survey has come against the backdrop of bridge collapses in recent years. The Morbi suspension bridge collapse in Gujarat in October 2022 left at least 141 people dead. In 2025, four people were killed in a bridge collapse near Pune. The Gambhira Bridge collapse in Gujarat in July 2025 claimed 22 lives.The Union road transport and highways ministry issued a circular to all agencies responsible for national highways, seeking detailed inventory and condition assessment data for every bridge and structure with a span exceeding six metres. The ministry will review the progress at its senior officers’ meetings.The ministry said a large number of bridges are ageing and require scientific, data-driven monitoring to identify structural distress early and prioritise repairs before safety is compromised.The IBMS has been developed as a mobile-based platform for inventory, inspection, condition assessment, and management of bridges across the country’s national highway network.The circular said the platform includes digital inventory forms that capture detailed information on bridge components, construction history, hydraulic characteristics, traffic data, and environmental parameters. It is equipped with inspection and condition assessment modules that can be used to recommend maintenance, repair, rehabilitation, or reconstruction measures.A web-based dashboard will allow the ministry and implementing agencies to generate customised reports for monitoring bridge health.The ministry has directed field offices of the respective agencies, including project implementation units, project management units, and national highway divisions, to conduct the survey. In case an authority or independent engineers are engaged on projects, their services must be utilised for the exercise. The circular warns that if they fail to begin the inventory and condition survey within one month, it will be treated as a breach of contractual obligations and their monthly payments may be suspended.Every regional office and field unit has also been instructed to appoint a nodal officer within 10 days to coordinate data collection and conduct random verification of uploaded information. Executive engineers, project directors, and equivalent officers must verify the data for at least 7% of bridges under their jurisdiction. Regional officers will verify the survey data for all bridges longer than 500 metres.The circular called for uploading complete bridge inventory and condition data of all ongoing highway projects to the IBMS portal before submission of as-built drawings. It requires all DPR consultants to upload inventory and condition details of existing bridges to the portal, creating what the ministry intends to be a comprehensive national database for bridge asset management.