ABSTRACT
India has second largest road network in the world having a Road Network of over 5,472,144 kilometres (3,400,233 mi) which comprises 1,00,087.02 km National Highways which includes over 35,733 Bridges. If we want to repair and rehabilitate these Bridges, current information looks inadequate, also Indian scenario needs trained and responsive manpower to be proactive to repair and rehabilitate the Bridges. Fund allocation required is huge. There is lack of training and manpower to handle the work of this magnitude. Even in recent past before Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS), Digital Inventory of Structures (Bridges & Culverts) including year of construction of various structures and criteria for defining condition of structures did not look feasible. The historical data of inspections and maintenance works was recorded which was piecemeal and thus it founds to be the main hurdle in developing a scientific management system. If the same scenario continues further which may not provide a better trait for Improving the life span of structures existing on National Highways of country, which in turn will have a direct impact in the development of Country.
Importance of maintenance of any infrastructure to keep it in serviceable condition during its entire service life needs no emphasis. In fact the huge cost invested in creating the infrastructure loses its significance and becomes irrelevant if due attention is not given towards its regular maintenance. A timely and appropriate intervention can only be planned if relevant data and tool for logical & scientific analysis is available.
Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS) is developed to create an inventory of all bridge assets in India and apply a technical logic to manage the Bridge asset during its life cycle. It generates detailed inventory data and condition ratings of assets to ensure that dynamics of deterioration process are captured and this dynamism in the deterioration process guides the inspection and rehabilitation of bridges. The system allows the user to assign priority to maintenance activity based on the present condition of the Bridge.
Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS) is the largest platform in the world with a database of more than 1,61,739 bridge structures owned by single owner.
