The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) made an announcement revealing the establishment of a dedicated design division aimed at overseeing the design and construction processes of bridges and various other structures.

In order to enhance the efficacy of evaluating the design and construction phases of bridges, specialised structures, and tunnels, NHAI has introduced a designated design division. This division's core responsibility lies in developing policies and guidelines for the strategic planning, design, construction, and on-going maintenance of bridges, structures, tunnels, and retaining earth (RE) walls situated along the national highways throughout the country. This initiative was detailed in a statement from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

This newly established division is slated to undertake a range of tasks, encompassing comprehensive reviews of project preparation, the construction of new bridges, assessments of existing older or deteriorated bridges, as well as assessments of the condition of critical bridges, structures, tunnels, and RE walls through instrumentation. Additionally, it will assess standalone bridges and specialised structures that are in the phase of developing detailed project reports, provided that these reports commenced post June 2023.

Furthermore, the division will be engaged in evaluating construction methodologies, temporary structures, lifting and launching techniques, and prestressing methods employed in selected bridges and structures exceeding a span of 200 meters. Special structures will also be subjected to these reviews on a random basis.

The division's responsibilities also extend to the review of design plans for all bridges and structures within ongoing projects that exceed a length of 200 meters. In an additional measure, the division will conduct random reviews of the designs for other bridges with spans exceeding 60 meters, structures, tunnels longer than 200 meters, retaining earth walls surpassing a height of 10 meters, and other specialised structures.

To carry out these design evaluations, the division will enlist the expertise of advisors and establish consultant teams composed of specialists in bridge design, tunnel construction, RE walls, geotechnical matters, and soil/material testing laboratories. Furthermore, the division plans to engage design experts, research scholars, and postgraduate students from esteemed institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and National Institutes of Technology (NITs) to participate in structure design reviews whenever necessary.