MoRTH Directs Descoping of Bridge Health Monitoring System Works from Existing Contracts

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), vide Circular bearing reference no. RW/NH-33044/13/2023-S&R(P&B) (Comp No. 232086) dated July 6, 2026 (the “Circular”), has directed the descoping of Bridge Health Monitoring System (BHMS) works from existing Contract Agreements/Concession Agreements where physical execution has not commenced. The Circular also mandates adoption of the new Model Request for Proposal (RFP) for the supply, installation, commissioning, and operation & maintenance of sensors for continuous real-time health monitoring of bridges.

The Circular builds upon MoRTH’s earlier Circular dated May 4, 2026, which introduced the new Model RFP for procurement of BHMS. Under the revised framework, the software application for analysis of bridge health data is to be developed centrally by Indian Institute of Technology Madras in collaboration with Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, while the supply, installation, commissioning, and operation & maintenance of sensors, data loggers and other hardware components are to be undertaken through agencies selected by way of competitive bidding.

To facilitate implementation of the new procurement framework, the Circular prescribes the following measures:

1. Where BHMS forms part of an existing Contract Agreement or Concession Agreement and physical work has not commenced, the BHMS component is required to be descoped in accordance with the applicable contractual provisions;
2. All descoped BHMS works, as well as all future BHMS procurements, are required to be tendered through the newly issued Model RFP which shall govern procurement for the supply, installation, commissioning, and operation & maintenance of instruments, sensors, hardware for data acquisition, data transmission and reporting required for Bridge Health Monitoring.
3. Where the physical execution of BHMS has already commenced, the implementing agency may continue with installation, commissioning and operation & maintenance under the existing Contract Agreement or Concession Agreement. However, details of all such projects, including the bridge location, particulars of the BHMS deployed, the contractor or concessionaire, and the BHMS service provider, are required to be furnished to MoRTH’s Standards & Research (S&R) Zone within 30 days. On expiry of the 30-day period, all such cases shall be presumed to have been descoped in accordance with the Circular.

Through the Circular, MoRTH seeks to transition BHMS implementation to the new Model RFP and a centrally developed software platform, promoting greater uniformity and consistency in the deployment and long-term management of real-time BHMS across the National Highway network.