Seven Years On, Delhi's Signature Bridge Gets Its First Structural Audit
Delhi's Public Works Department has initiated a comprehensive structural safety assessment of the iconic Signature Bridge over the Yamuna in Wazirabad, northeast Delhi, nearly seven years after it was opened to the public without a single formal audit being conducted in the interim.
The department has floated a tender to engage a consultant who will carry out detailed inspections, recommend non-destructive testing, draw up a five-year maintenance plan, and provide preliminary cost estimates for repair and upkeep.
"We will be hiring experts for a structural safety and stability assessment of the bridge along with a detailed maintenance methodology and cost estimates for the next five years. This has not been done even once in the last seven years since the bridge was opened to the public," a PWD official said.
The move follows internal evaluations conducted after PWD took over maintenance from the Delhi Tourism and Transport Development Corporation, which had cited budgetary constraints in sustaining upkeep beyond the initial three-year funded period.
Preliminary checks flagged deterioration in road surfaces, broken side railings, and non-functional street lights and CCTVs.
PWD has already reached out to teams at IIT Delhi and IIT Kanpur for an expert-level structural audit.
Representatives from both institutions have visited the site and requested architectural drawings, construction data, and related technical documentation.
"The Signature Bridge is a technologically advanced infrastructure. The objective is to conduct a detailed assessment of structural safety and to prepare a scientific maintenance methodology for the coming years," the official added.
The forthcoming five-year maintenance plan will cover routine and monthly inspections, preventive and corrective maintenance protocols, emergency response frameworks, and cost projections for testing and repairs.
Detailed reports with geo-tagged photographs will be submitted to the department upon completion.
The bridge, which opened in 2018 at a cost of approximately Rs 1,518 crore, is Delhi's first asymmetrical cable-stayed structure and connects Wazirabad with Karawal Nagar, Bhajanpura, and the Outer Ring Road.
It will remain open to traffic throughout the assessment process.
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