The Rust Is History: Gadkari Suggests Mandatory Use Of Stainless Steel In Bridges To Avoid Corrosion

In order to avoid the corrosion problem, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has hinted that the government may bring a policy making the use of stainless steel mandatory in bridges in areas that are close to the sea.

Gadkari said this is necessary while flagging how corrosion is one of the major reasons for weakening the strength of bridges.

Releasing a book titled “Building Bridges”, which captures how his Ministry undertook the task of setting up Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS), the Road Minister said, “In localities like Mumbai and other areas close to the sea there is a common problem of rusting of the steel and that reduces strength of buildings and bridges. We may have to make a law that in areas within 30-50 km of a sea, we need to use only stainless steel. Rusting is a big problem. We also need to carry out more studies to find solutions.”

The Minister also said there is a dire need to fix the life or expiry date of bridges; carry out timely repair, but that’s possible only when there is data on the status of the bridge.

For this we need to have proper audit reports.

He added that now because of IBMS, his ministry has basic data of nearly 1.72 lakh bridges and there is need to improve this to get desired results.
Gadkari said there is huge resistance to new and out of box ideas within the government system.

“We need to carry out experiments and we must remember that all experiments won’t be successful. If we don’t accept this, we won’t get innovative solutions,” the Minister said.