Abstract

The data related to the failure of bridges that occurred during the period 1977–2017 in India have been collected from various sources, including print and electronic media. The data have been classified under various categories based on their material, cause of failure and others. More than 2130 bridges (excluding culverts and pedestrian bridges) have failed to provide intended service or got collapsed during various phases of construction in recent four decades. Reasons for failure of bridges during their service life as well as during the construction phase have been analysed. The average age of failure of bridges is 34.5 years, which is very low compared to the expected design life. A comparison of the failure cases is made with those from available literature and observed some unique failure patterns of bridges in India. The present study highlights that the collection of data made from open sources can provide information for drawing meaningful conclusions about the service life of bridges. Thus, helps in planning the infrastructural assets management and extending their service life.

摘要

与 1977 年至 2017 年期间发生在印度的桥梁故障有关的数据是从各种来源收集的，包括印刷和电子媒体。这些数据已根据其材料、故障原因等分为不同的类别。近四十年来，在不同建设阶段，超过 2130 座桥梁（不包括涵洞和人行天桥）未能提供预期服务或倒塌。分析了桥梁在使用寿命和施工阶段失效的原因。桥梁的平均失效年龄为 34.5 年，与预期设计寿命相比非常低。将失效案例与现有文献中的案例进行比较，并观察到印度桥梁的一些独特失效模式。本研究强调，从开源收集的数据可以为得出有关桥梁使用寿命的有意义结论提供信息。因此，有助于规划基础设施资产管理并延长其使用寿命。