Government of India

Ministry of Shipping, Road Tra nsport & lilghw:.ly~

(Department of Road Transporl & High" ays)
Triln-,pilrt Hlta\\ ,Il l
I. Parl iUJll l:llt :-'In.~ct.
New [)elhi . 11(1001

No. R W/NH;3304412188·S&R(B)

To

Secretaries of all State Governments f UTs dealing ..... ilh National Hig!JHay::-
, Engineer·in-Chief I Chief Engineer of all States Governments! UTs dealing
with National Highways.
3 Secretar:. Transpon orall Stale Governments and UTs.
4 Chailll1an, National Highways Authorit} of India.
). Director General (Border R(')ads).
6 . /+JJ. R OA / E--Lo
~ubject ; Width of Bridges on 2-lane National Highways (v.:i th and without footpath ),

Sir.
Instructi ons were issued vide this Ministry's lener of CVt!11 number dated '}Ih May, 2DOO
regarding width ofbridgcs to be provided on National High\\ays. The matler has been reconsidered
in Ihe light of concern for safety of \'ehlcleslpcdeslrians using the bridges The foll o wing r~vised

guidelines arc no" issued in supersession of the earlier instructions for bndges on 2·lane- NHs.
These guidelines are applicable essentially 10 future cases
2. GENERAL

The basic approach is thatlh!! width ofcarriagc\\ay orall bridges irrespective of their leng6s
or local ion I termin (rural. urban. plain) shall be that··
a l for free now of traffic from approaches to bridge. width of carriageway on bridge shall be
equal to the carriageway width of immediate approaches pill:' paved sholiiders even if
presently not provided . For bndges on 2-lane NHs the carriageway width shall be IO.SOm
(pa\led shoulder and kerb shyness on either side ta ken as 150m and Q.25m respectively).
b) Overall width of bridges will vat) depending upon Width of ca rriageway. footpath. safel)
kerbs, crash barriers, railings and pro' ision for h.erb sh)ness Overall \\ idlh of bridges for 2-
lane NHs without footpath and with footpath are gi..,en in table In Annexure.
,.., Formation width of the immediate approaches shall be equal to overall width between
ou tenn ost faces of Ihe railing I crash barrier (If the bridge In case the formal ion \. . idlh of
approaches is different Ihan the overall width of' the bridge as stipulated in (b) above.
 formation shall be Increased to the ove rall \lvldlh ofbndge In at leas! lor 90 m on enhl.!l side
of bridge fo !! 0"" cd by a transition of I. 20 .
3. Exis(ing Narrot'\' bridges on ;",' Hs!

3.1 Narro\v Bridges h::lvlng wid th of deck. less ihan the width of approaches are potcmial so urce
of accidents. II 15 necessar) to provide POSlIl\'C guidance so Ihat the drivers have sufficient
Information to safel), negot iate the narrow bridges. For thiS purpose, the safelY measures shall be
adopted as per site requirement .as !'peit OUI in circula r No. RWfNHl33044 /2/ 88-S&R(B dated
J I 10.2008

4. FOOTPATHS

4.1 Footpath 10 bndgeslocaled In urban and rural areas may be decided on the basis of expected
pedeslrlan traffic, In case the pedestnan tramc is hea\ ~. the width of the footpat h can be suitably
increased or a separatE pedestrir.n bridge can bE considered depending on site conditian. However
mlOlmU/ll width offoot piU h shall bt 1 5111
.12 Provlslon of foolpzth for bridges In rura l areas particularly for \e r) long bridges shall be
considered on case 10 case basIs .
4.3 Typical cross section of bridges on 2-lane NHs I.,.J thout footpath and With footpath of 15m
width are at Figure. 1 and J respectivel)
".d In case provision for ducts for t3~lng teleph one win::s, gas pipeline and electric cable is to be
provided. then the shou lder shall be raIsed otherwise the footpa th shall be a t the sa me level as that
of the ca rTia gewa~ on the bridge
45 Al the entrance (Q the footpath on ei th er end of the bridge suitable barrier shall be prov ided
so thaI two and three wheelers can't enter the footpath .

5. CRASH BARRIERS

5.1 Crash barn ers shall be provided on all the bridges on National Highways 10 safeguard against
the errant vehicles. The type & design for the concrete crash barrier may be adopted as per IRe· 5-
1998 & IRC: 6 : 2000.
5.2 For bridges wi th Ollt footpath. crash barrie rs shall be provided at the ri verside
5.3 For bridges with footpath . crash barrier shall be provided belween footpath and carriageway
as shown in Figure 2.
54 For bridges with foo tpath. having length more than I nOm. half metre \O.~ m) wide openmg in
the crash barrier shall be provided at 50 m interval.
6. EXTRA WIDTH ON BRlDGES LOCATED ON CURVES,

Extra carriageway width of bridge located on cun.es shall be provided as per IRe cod al
provisions applicable for road sec ti on on curves.

7. Road O\'er bridges on Nalional Highw3)'S

The above provisions shall also generall y apply to all road over bridges except where any
deviations have to be made due to specifi c si te constraints.
t! is requested that the con lem s of this c ircu lar be broughl to the noti ce of all officers in Jour
department concerned with National Hi ghways and ether central!> sponsored schemes.

You rs faithfully,

~.
un Kumar Sharma)
Chie f Eng ineer ( S & R ) B
For Director General (Road Development) .& S.S
Telephone , 011-23719850

An nexure : Width of bridge on two lane Nati(lnal l-li ghw3), with and without footpath
 ,

AI'<'NEXURE

W idth of bridge on two lane Natio na l Hig hway wilh o ut a nd w it h footpat h

(Reference para 2 and fig. 1, 2 & 3 )

Dimensions in melers

I Desc ript io n
I B rid ge wi thout footpa th Bridge w ith footpath

(J.S footpat h

Carriageway I iO.OO 10.00

Kerb shyness . 0.5 0(h 0. 25) 0.50(2x 0.25 )

Footpalh . 3.00 (2 x 1.50)

SafelY Kerbs 1.50 (2 x 0.75) .

.
Crash Barrier I0.90 (2 x 0.4 5) 0.90 (2 x 0.45)

Ra ilings . 0.40 (2 x 20)

Overall widlh 12.90 14 .80

Note :

(a) Ca rriageway width of 10.S0m 0:1 bridges is planned to account for paved shoulders on

approaches if prov ided later. Thu s 10 arrive at the width o f carriageway on bridges, the al lowance for

paved shoulders and kerb shyness has been made.

 r.....,.·~t:;:t.SH84.RRIE.R
(, (fiEr ClAUSE 11~. 4:-
..~ OF IR("-51

L RAISED
SAr;E~Y KERB
;. ~E;:" CLAUSE i 11 .3
or IF' -5)

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iT----../'V-----"'-' '/--
T I I ,
APPROAC r;P: I .
90.00 M

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tA ..
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,
-'--
; /-- CR A SH
J A
BARRIER

~L
I, SAFETY KERB

t
APPROACHES
90 00 M
,
,I
--

_L i ~V-- '-.-

10500
--"
___ L~ - -U NPAVED
SHOULDER
1200 WID E

12000
12900

P LA:--J

PIG .1 :-TWO~.\,!E-1.UGHWA Y__ BRlDCi~ _WIT1iOU1~ fOOTPATH S

HAVI NG CRASH BARRIE3 AT .LHE EDGES
-s/r-
 1~~(;._
." ,
<50 150::;
20~
200
R4ILII<G F:All!NG
zoo <>-- 200
g --~
N

'--FOCJr PA1H
S E CTJ ON A--A

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AP?RLCHE~
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RAIL"'G

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BRIDGE
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APPROft CHES '

TO M l---'-----.--"'.r------ ___ ~---_l_T~~~~~~,~

PAVED WIDTH 10500

14 4 00

' 4f100

ALL DI MEN SIONS IN mm

F'lG .2:- TWO LANE H1GHWAY BRlDGE W1TH FOOTPATH S HAV1NG

CRASH BARRIER BETWEEN FO OTPATH AND CARRIAG EWA Y