NHAI Orders Independent Design Check for Major Highway Bridges

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has put in place a single, uniform system under which the designs and drawings of major bridges and other critical structures on its projects will be examined by an outside expert before they are cleared. The step, announced on 15 October 2026 by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, is meant to tighten structural safety, durability and quality assurance on National Highway works.

Who will do the checking

The verification will be carried out by bodies on an NHAI panel: the Indian Institutes of Technology, well regarded government technical institutions, and other experienced technical firms that know bridge engineering and hydraulic studies. Catching a flaw at the drawing stage, rather than after concrete has been poured, is the whole point, and the checker must also satisfy itself that the design obeys the applicable codes of the Indian Roads Congress, the technical specifications and the terms of the contract.

Which structures are covered

• Major bridges and viaducts
• Major river bridges whose design discharge is 3,000 cubic metres per second or more
• Any structure or bridge with an individual effective span of 40 metres or more
• Other special or complex structures that NHAI identifies

The examination covers design calculations, structural analysis and drawings, and, where they apply, hydrological and hydraulic studies. Those studies weigh how water will flow, how high a flood may rise, whether the openings left for water to pass are wide enough, and whether foundations are safe against the scouring of the river bed.

How the process will run

The contractor or concessionaire first submits the design and drawings for review or approval as the contract requires. Three institutions or firms are then proposed from the panel, and one or more of them is picked according to what the project needs. The chosen checker studies the design on its own and files its observations and recommendations. The contractor takes those into account and alters the design where needed, after which NHAI reviews or approves it under the contract.

When it begins

The policy takes effect from 1 December 2026 and will apply to all new highway projects awarded on the Engineering, Procurement and Construction model, the Hybrid Annuity Model and the Build-Operate-Transfer model, as well as to projects where design verification or proof checking has not yet begun. Works in which that checking is already finished are generally left out, though an extra independent verification may still be ordered for major bridges and complex structures.