Signature Bridge to get major maintenance, rehabilitation plan
With the previous AAP Government failing to carry out a structural safety and stability audit of the iconic Signature Bridge in the national Capital, the Delhi Government has devised a comprehensive maintenance and rehabilitation plan for its durability and serviceability.
Recently, the bridge underwent a detailed inspection, including a condition assessment carried out in July, in which several areas requiring immediate preventive action, specialised investigation, and planned corrective maintenance were identified to ensure the bridge’s long-term safety.
The assessment covered all major components of the iconic cable-stayed bridge, including the superstructure, foundations, bearings, expansion joints, steel deck, 154-metre pylon, stay cables, approach structures, skywalk ramp, glass façade and Bridge Health Monitoring System (BHMS). The assessment has identified several areas requiring immediate preventive action, specialised investigation and planned corrective maintenance to ensure the bridge’s long-term safety, durability and serviceability.
The Government noted that no maintenance initiative was taken for the bridge’s maintenance during the previous AAP regime. The bridge was handed over to the Delhi PWD only a few months ago. Only after the recent handover did the PWD undertake a detailed assessment of the structure and begin implementing a systematic maintenance and rehabilitation programme for the iconic structure.
According to PWD Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh, the inspection has particularly highlighted the need to restore the Bridge Health Monitoring System, which has been found largely non-functional, with several sensors damaged, missing or operating in passive mode. The proposed overhaul will include structural temperature, strain, wind, displacement, acceleration, inclination, corrosion, traffic and force sensors, along with a new data-acquisition system and control-room setup.
“Signature Bridge is one of Delhi’s most important landmarks and a critical part of the city’s transport infrastructure. It is important to recognise that the bridge was handed over to PWD only a few months ago, and our government is now addressing the maintenance requirements systematically. Our priority is clear — every component of the bridge must remain safe, strong and properly maintained. We will not allow past gaps in maintenance to become future risks,” Singh said.
The PWD minister said a modern bridge cannot depend only on periodic visual inspections. We need technology to continuously tell us what is happening to the structure. Restoring the BHMS will give us real-time monitoring and allow engineers to identify potential issues much before they become serious.”
The assessment has also identified erosion and deterioration of foundation protection, particularly around the riverside foundations. Since underwater and subsurface portions could not be fully inspected due to safety and water-flow conditions, detailed investigation has been recommended. Repair measures include debris and silt removal, restoration of damaged protective concrete and additional scour protection wherever required.
The minister said the skywalk ramp steelwork has also emerged as a priority area, with severe corrosion, rust scaling, coating failure and corrosion at joints, splices and fasteners. Detailed assessment and rehabilitation of affected steelwork will be undertaken.
The inspection has further recommended corrective measures for steel deck corrosion, pylon coating deterioration, stay-cable anchorage protection, wax leakage, expansion-joint cleaning, drainage maintenance and deficiencies in certain pendulum-bearing components.
The elevated bridge opened for public use in 2018 and is Delhi’s first asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge. It connects Wazirabad to Karawal Nagar and Bhajanpura in east Delhi and provides strategic connectivity to the Outer Ring Road, Loni in Ghaziabad, Rajinder Nagar, and northeast and central parts of the national capital. The structure was constructed at an estimated cost of about Rs 1,518.37 crore by the DTTDC and PWD took over the maintenance responsibilities last year.
