Construction Challenges for Bridges in Hilly Area

Abstract

Construction Challenges for Bridges in Hilly Area India, a country with a total area of approx. 3.2 million sq. km. has around 23 % of its area covered with densely forested, thinly populated hills. Human habitation and Vegetation spreads to altitudes as high as 14000 to 16000 feet above Mean Sea Level. In order to exploit enormous potential of hilly areas like mineral deposit, scenic beauty, valuable medicinal herb, forest resources, bracing climate & hydel power for its renewable & non-polluting nature a new network of road is essential. Road network in hilly areas comprise bridges as an integral part of them, though hilly region pose unique problems for bridge construction.

In a restricted hilly area itself geological features, climatic conditions and hydrological parameters vary considerably. Various challenges that come across while constructing bridges in hilly areas are dealing with deep gorges, extremely low temperature conditions, rivers with bouldary beds, high winds, landslides etc. and these require special attention to complete the exercise of bridge planning and construction. This paper aims on discussing every issue faced, starting from the idea of constructing a bridge until its completion.