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National Seminar On “ Design and Construction Of Bridges” Inaugurated

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A two day National Seminar o­n “ Design and ConstructionOf Bridges”, jointly organized by Indian Institution of Bridge Engineers, Mumbai and National Bridge Research and Development Centre, Hyderabad, was inaugurated today (22.01.2011) at the Rail Nilayam Auditorium, Secunderabad by Er. Aditya P. Mishra, Member Engineering, Railway Board, New Delhi,the Chief Guest o­n the occasion.Two hundreddelegates representing Railways, Central Public Works Department, State Public Works Department, Road Development Authorities, Metro Railways, Bridge Researchand Design Institutions etc., are participating in the Seminar.

In his inaugural address, Er. Aditya P. Mishra stated that every bridge is a work of art, an instrument to eliminate traffic chaos and bridging people and regions together. He appreciated thegreat determination and foresight of the Railway Bridge Engineers ofyesteryears in constructingmajor bridges across many mighty rivers in our country. Indian Railways has 1,33, 000 bridges, 50% of which are more than 100 years old. Multi level, regular bridge inspectionsare being carried out in railways to ensure the safety of the bridges in the wake of increase in traffic of higher axle load, he added. He further stressed the need for immediate expansion ofRailways in Indiato cope up with the ever increasing passenger and freight traffic generated by the surge in the Indian economy which is growing at an average rate of 9% per year. Indian Railways constructed 700 Km of new lines in the year 2010-11 as against the yearly average of 185 km sinceIndependence. In the current financial year, 1075 km of new lines would be opened for traffic and in future, completion of 2500 km is planned per year. He reiterated the need for developing additional and alternative routes in order to reduce the stress o­n the existing major routes which are being over used leaving very little time for undertaking maintenance works. He further called upon the participants to visit many major bridges under construction in Jammu & Kashmir, and across the rive Bramhaputra which would stand as engineering marvels. He released a Souvenir containing all the technical papers being presented in the Seminar.

Addressing the delegates, Er. R.Vijaya Mohan, Addl. General Manager, South Central Railway, the Guest of Honour o­n the occasion, exhorted the delegates to design and develop bridges with modern technology keeping the future demand of traffic in mind. He also appealed to the Bridge Engineers to visit Bridges in foreign Countries, keep abreast of the state of the art technology in bridge building and to ensure the Nation gets stronger, safer bridges at affordable cost.

Er. Pradeep Kumar, Principal Chief Engineer, S.C. Railway, in his address, informed that there are 13,000 bridges in S.C. Railway. Bridges of 100 years old are still going strong and are inspected and strengthened as required, he added.

Er. M.C. Bhide, Founder & Hon. Director General of Indian Institution of Bridge Engineers and Hon. Chief Executive of National Bridge Research and Development Centre narrated how the Indian Institute of Bridge Engineers is spreadingthe emerging technologiesrelated to all branches of Bridge Engineering Viz., Rail, Road, Military, water, grade separators, Jetties etc. The IIBE has secured the appreciation of several countries by publishing 26,500 pages oftechnical literature o­n bridge research, construction and maintenance he informed.

Er. Vivek B. Gadgil, Chief executive & Managing Director, L&T (Metro Rail Project) Hyderabad expressed confidence that,with in the next five year, our country would possess the world largest international standard Metro Railway System of71 kms,mostly o­n elevated track o­n the completion ofHyderabad Metro Railway.

Er. S.K. Sharma, Chief Administrative Officer (Construction), S.C. Railway, Er. R.K Meena, Chief Bridge Engineer, S.C. Railway, Dr. A.K.Asthana, Co-Chairman, Technical Committee, IIBE also spoke o­n the occasion. In the technical sessions that followed, Power point presentation of 23 technical papers byeminent bridge engineers will take place today and tomorrow.