Taking cue from massive damage of bridges in the Dalkhola-Kishanganj section and other sections in Bihar due to floods last year, the Northeast Frontier Railway has started using drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) for detailed inspection of several bridges for its proper maintenance.
Train services were disrupted over a month after the bridge collapsed in the floods and the important double-line route connecting Kolkata and Delhi was restored only before the Durga puja last year.
NFR’s Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) PJ Sharma on Thursday said NFR has started using drones for detailed inspection of bridges under its system.
“Given the kind of terrain that the railway operates in, there are a large number of bridges in the zone, many of them unique in dimension and specification. Inspection of bridges is a very evolved and detailed process, often made difficult by the continuous movement of traffic,” Mr Sharma said.
“Inspection by drone-mounted cameras, which would chase anything between 1 to 4 lakh, depending on the size and location of the bridge, would facilitate a much detailed view of the bridge, its superstructure and substructure (pillars) portions, otherwise inaccessible could be examined in detail,” he added.
According to him, NFR has taken a pro-active approach to upgrade the method of inspection of bridges. Survey of two major bridges on the Guwahati- Lumding section by using drones has been successfully completed.
Inspection of as many as 28 important bridges is to be done by drone-mounted cameras, and this includes the iconic Saraighat Bridge, the Naranarayan Setu and the famous Dayang bridge of Lumding-Badarpur hill section, the NFR said.
It may be mentioned here that the NFR has already started underwater inspection of major and important bridges, in which experienced divers use special equipment to assess the condition of bridge foundations.