HYDERABAD: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) will audit the condition of old bridges in the city. The civic body will conduct detailed inspections to check the structural stability and carry out load capacity tests and prepare a report.
The decade-old bridges, including the Road over Bridges (RoBs) in Begumpet, Ramakrishnapuram, Moula Ali and Aravind Nagar and other bridges in Secunderabad Zone of GHMC. The civic body will engage consultants to conduct the health audit study of the bridges.
Sources told Express that the reports will mention the extent of damage in any bridges along with recommendations on repairs. The consulting agencies will utilise different technologies to detect the faults and damages in the structures. Preliminary inspections by civic engineers have revealed certain doubts over the structural condition of these bridges, with cracks and corrosion found in many of them.
Sources said the existing major road network system in the city is faced with numerous problems such as inadequate carriageway width of railway crossings, improper drainage facilities and pedestrian footpaths, traffic management and the lack of efficient mass transport system, among others. This has resulted in the rise of pressure on the existing road network so that the city is ready to cope with future traffic demands.
The GHMC will utilise the consultancy services for investigation, non-destructive testing, rehabilitation methodologies for the four bridges in Secunderabad Zone. The main objective is to conduct non-destructive testing for obtaining immediate restoration measures to the bridge i.e. distressed bearing regions, damaged expansion joints and voids in the girders by understanding the extent and intensity of distress and to arrive at suitable and necessary estimate quantities and restoration methodologies in three months.