The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has asked Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT)s to vet the designs of major bridges to be built on national highways across the country in all new projects.A bridge over the Sehar Khad on National Highway-44 in Jammu and Kashmir. (PTI)The initiative, announced on Tuesday, is aimed at ensuring that major bridges designed for a service life of 100 years or more undergo rigorous an independent technical review before construction.Around 12 IITs, including IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay, IIT-Roorkee, IIT-Kharagpur and several other premier institutions have expressed willingness to collaborate with NHAI.The proposed framework will establish a nationwide institutional mechanism for independent design vetting of critical bridge projects. The empanelled institutions will review structural design calculations, engineering drawings, construction methodologies, geotechnical investigations and hydraulic studies before construction starts.NHAI said the framework will apply uniformly across projects executed under engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), hybrid annuity model (HAM) and build-operate-transfer (BOT) modes, creating a consistent quality assurance mechanism across different project delivery formats.The move comes after the Union road transport and highways ministry directed all road-owning agencies, including state public works departments, to complete a nationwide digital inventory survey of bridges by September 30 under the Indian Bridge Management System (IBMS). The survey is aimed at creating a comprehensive database of bridges to support scientific monitoring, maintenance and timely interventions.