The Howrah bridge is set for a comprehensive health audit after nearly two decades to ascertain whether the octogenarian steel structure, considered a piece of engineering marvel, is fit to serve the metropolis for many more years.
Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (formerly Calcutta Port Trust), which is the custodian of the bridge, has engaged IIT Madras to define the scope of work and give a tentative budget.
The primary objective of the audit, which may be taken up later this year, is to identify if there is any “fatigue” in the structure.
After the audit is over, the port is likely to appoint an agency to work on the recommendations. “A comprehensive health check-up of the bridge is due. We will soon start work on it,” Rathendra Raman, newly appointed chairman of the port, said on Wednesday.
There is, however, no reason to believe, prima facie, that the structure is in any danger and that traffic on the 1,500ftlong bridge could be impacted. Port officials insist they do not apprehend any major issue with the bridge.
“The scientist from IIT Madras who we are consulting with told us that 81 years is no age for a steel structure,” said an official in the engineering department of the port trust.
While the bridge is under regular upkeep — the port has undertaken a project to reduce the load on the structure by scraping the bituminous road-surface — the health audit takes place after intervals.
RITES, an agency under the central government, was appointed in the mid-1980s to carry out a health check. Implementation of its recommendations started in early-1990s and completed in 2005.
After that this will be the first health check of the bridge.
Port officials said with the advancement in technology and digital sensors, the audit can be completed in months.
“Depending on the projected cost (of the implementation of the recommendations), we will decide on the next course of action. If it is not too high, IIT Madras may get the work done on a nomination basis. But if it is too high, we may have to float a tender,” said a port official.
The National Technology Center for Ports, Waterways& Coasts, a unit in IIT Madras,is also assisting the port in regard to the health audit.
A port official said the idea to do a comprehensive health audit first came up after the theMajherhat bridge collapsed in 2018. The collapse prompted the state government to carry out a health audit of bridges in the city.
Based on the findings, theTallah bridge in north Calcutta was rebuilt.
A.K. Mehera, deputy chairman of the port, said: “We need to find out if any structural element has fatigue.”
Built in 1943, the Howrah bridge is the sixth longest cantilever bridge in the world. In 2009-10, the port said gutka and paan spit was corroding the hanger of the bridge. To prevent damage, the hangers were covered in fibreglass.
Officials said the bridge will get a fresh coat of paint after the monsoon. The structure is painted every 6-7 years.