471 National Highway bridges found structurally distressed; repairs to finish by December 2028

A total of 471 bridges on the National Highway network have been identified as structurally distressed, with repair work completed on 159 of them, while restoration of the remaining 312 is scheduled to be finished by December 2028, the Centre informed Parliament on Wednesday.

The figures were shared by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to an unstarred question raised by Rajya Sabha MP V. Sivadasan on the safety audit of bridges across the National Highway network.

'Regular inspections underway'

Gadkari said bridges, flyovers, overbridges and viaducts on National Highways undergo periodic inspections to detect structural deficiencies at an early stage and prevent potential safety risks.

According to the minister, these inspections are carried out by agencies responsible for different stretches of the highway network, including the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the respective state Public Works Departments (PWDs).

'Repair work in progress'

The government informed Parliament that remedial measures have already been completed on 159 structurally distressed bridges, while work on the remaining 312 bridges is progressing in phases. The Ministry has set a target of December 2028 for completing repairs and strengthening works on all identified structures.

Bridge safety monitoring strengthened

The disclosure comes against the backdrop of the Centre's decision to strengthen bridge safety monitoring following a series of bridge collapses and structural failures reported in recent years. Last month, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways decided to centralise the software platform used for real-time bridge health monitoring, with the project being developed by IIT Madras and the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC). The move also seeks to standardise the procurement and deployment of bridge health monitoring systems across future National Highway projects.

Digital inventory by September

The Ministry has further directed all road-owning agencies to complete a nationwide digital inventory and condition survey of bridges by September 30 under the Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS). The database is expected to enable continuous monitoring of bridge conditions, facilitate scientific maintenance planning and ensure timely intervention wherever structural weaknesses are detected, with the aim of improving the long-term safety of India's highway infrastructure.