MINISTER OF RAILWAYS (SHRI NITISH KUMAR)
(a) to (f): A statement is laid on the Table of the Sabha.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF
STARRED QUESTION NO.42 BY SHRI BASUDEB ACHARIA AND PROF.
A.K. PREMAJAM TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 21.11.02
REGARDING REPLACEMENT OF OLD BRIDGES
(a) There were 262 distressed railway bridges as on
01.04.99 which the Railway Safety Review Committee
recommended should be rehabilitated within a time span of 5
years.
(b) Yes, Sir.
(c), (d) & (e) Yes Sir. All the bridges including old and
distressed bridges are inspected thoroughly once a year at
various levels as laid down in Railway Codes and Manuals.
For distressed bridges an increased frequency of inspections
has been laid down in the Manuals. The steel superstructures
of all bridges are subject to detailed technical checks once
every five years and once a year for the floor system of
early steel girders. The inspection of substructures of
bridges is done by close visual inspection and hammer
tapping to check for any cracks or hollowness of masonry No
specific recommendations for visual inspections / structural
tests for 100 year old bridges / early steel girders or
distressed bridges were made in Kunzru Committee (1962),
Wanchoo Committee (1968), Sikri Committee (1978). Khanna
Committee (1999) had recommended that distressed bridges and
bridges over 100 years in age or of early steel should be
further inspected at Senior Administrative Grade level with
State of Art Non-destructive equipment and project
coordinated by RDSO. In pursuance of this recommendation,
all the distressed bridges as identified in part (a) of the
question were got inspected by the territorial Chief
Engineers of the Railways. For other bridges i. e. 100
years old and early steel girders, the existing system as
enumerated above was considered satisfactory and these
bridges are inspected at higher levels when referred to in
view of any distress noticed. The results of Non
Destructive Testing equipment mentioned in the
recommendation are indicative and require detailed
evaluation , testing and trials before detailed guidelines
are issued for their large scale use over Indian Railway
system. One set of some of the Non-Destructive Testing
Equipment has been procured for the Research Design &
Standards Organisation (RDSO) and is under detailed
evaluation, trials and testing for consideration of adoption
on large scale over the Railways.
(f) The steps taken / being taken are enumerated as :
1. All the Cast Iron Pile Bridges have been sanctioned for rebuilding within the
next three to four years.
2. All the distressed bridges are sanctioned for
rehabilitation / rebuilding on priority.
3. During the 9th Plan period Rs. 410 Cr. were spent for rebuilding / strengthening of 3400 bridges.
4. Outlays for bridge rehabilitation / rebuilding have
been increased substantially Rs.1530 Cr. has been earmarked
for rehabilitation / rebuilding of bridges out
of Special Railway Safety Fund in the next 5 to 6
years. In addition, bridges are also sanctioned for
rehabilitation / rebuilding every year chargeable to
Railways Annual Works Programme.
5. During the year 2002-03, a sum of Rs.209 Cr (Rs.143 Cr. out of SRSF and Rs.66 Cr. out of DRF) has been
allotted for rehabilitation / rebuilding of bridges.
