Construction of High level Bridge over River Kosi.

(Longest Road Bridge In India)

River kosi is called as “Sorrow of Bihar”. It is a perennial river originating from

Himalayan range and ending in river Ganga at Koilwar after passing through Nepal
mountainous & plain terrain and Bihar. There is kosi barrage at the Indo-Nepal boarder at
Birpur, Supaul.
Kosi is meandering river. Its flow is guided by constructing embankment on both
sides. Under PM’s initiative, a Bharatmala Project was launched to connect Backward,
Religious/Tourist places and boarder area. Under this project “ Umagaon-Basopatti-
Benepatti-Rahika-Madhubani-Raampatti-Awam-Laufa-Bheja-Supaul-Saharsa” stretch is
taken up by NHAI.
Project Road
NEPAL Length in ;
BANSWA
NEPAL Madhubani –
MADHU
94.04 Km
Saur RAJNANA
Supaul – 15.5
MADHUB
Km

SUPA Saharsa – 31.5

MADHE
Km
LAU
DARBAN
SUPAU

PKG-IV

SAHA
Project
Road

SAHA

Under this project, between Bheja(Madhubani) and Bakaur(Supaul), bridge over Kosi is
proposed which is under Seismic zone V.

NHAI appointed experienced Consultant VKS Infratech Management Pvt. Ltd

New Delhi for preparation of DPR.
 After inception and feasibility report, it was decided to engage IIT Roorkee for
mathematical and Physical model study on Kosi Bridge at this site.

During the high level technical committee meeting between NHAI & Consultant
on submitted inception, Feasibility and IIT reports, it was decided to submit details of
comparison on following four alternatives.

COMPARISON ALTERNATIVES
OF KOSI BRIDGE
SUMMARY OF ALL ALTERNATIVES

Alt-1 Alt-2 Alt-3 Alt-4 Final Proposal

11200 m Extradose
long d Bridge of
3536 m long
Precast 2036 m
3535 m long bridge bridge with 10200 m long Precast
Description Segment (span 180
with 2035 m long 2036 m long Segmental Box Girder
of al Box m) and
Extradosed Bridge Extradosed Bridge of 60 m span with
alternative Girder rest 7664
(Span=125m) Bridge approach roads
Bridge of m bridge
(Span=180m)
50 m of 50 m
span span
Total Length
3535m 3536m 11200m 11136m 10200m
of Bridges
Guide Bund
11072 11072 0 0 0
Length
Total cost of
597 681 1416 1639 925.1
Bridges
Guide Bund
413 413 0 0 0
Cost (Crore)
High
Embankmen
t with slope
Protection 153 153 0 0 59.19
and
launching
Apron
Land
Acquisition 220 220 28.95 28.95 28.95
(Rs)

Total cost 1383 1467 1450 1673 1313.7

R&R Cost
to be R & R cost
Guide bund area
added for of affected
as per Hydraulic NA NA NA
villages in villages to
Model study
Guide be added.
bund area

PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE FOR BRIDGE

ACROSS RIVER KOSI

Out of the 4 alternatives studied, alternative-3 with full length

bridge was preferred due to following reasons;

 No guide bund is required. Regular maintenance of guide

bund has been avoided.
 Construction of high embankment in Kosi bed and
approach road preparation works have been avoided as
well as the maintenance of the approach road of the 7.6
km.
 Land acquisition of 220.73 Ha for Guide bund has been
avoided. LA for approach road has been minimized.
 No obstruction to the river flow during highest flood
event as structure has been provided at the full length.
 Overall cost is less compared to other alternatives.
 During model study an afflux of 0.5m was observed. This
has been eliminated by providing a full length bridge.
 The effect of afflux on the East & West Kosi bund has been
eliminated.
 The cost of the bridge has been further reduced by
providing a bridge length of 10200m in place of the
11200m with approach embankment in remaining length
without necessitating the provision of guide bund.

FINAL PROPOSAL OF KOSI

BRIDGE
 10.2 km of bridge with precast segmental box

superstructure with of span of 60m with a continuous

module of 4x60m=240m

 1.1 km approach road with embankment on Bheja side.

 2.2 km approach road with embankment on Bakaur side.

 Slope protection works + launching apron for approach

road protection
In the light of above the details project report was prepared with following silent features.

SALIENT FEATURES OF KOSI

BRIDGE

Name of the river Kosi River

Latitude 26°05’16” N
Location of Bridge
Longitude 86°27’12” E

Basin Kosi Basin

Nearest City Supaul

District Madhubani/Supaul

State Bihar

Length of Bridge 10.2 Km.

No. of Spans 41 x 4 + 2 x 3 = 170 Nos.

Span Length (C/C of Bearing) 60 m

Overall Width 16 m

Carriageway Width 11 m

Footpath 1.5 m each side

Precast Segmental Box Girder Superstructure

Type of Superstructure 4 Span & 3 Span Continuous (4x60m=240m & 3x
60m=180m) module

Depth of Box Girder 3.5 m

Type of Bearing POT PTFE with STU at free piers

Type of Expansion Joint Modular Type

Dia. of Pier 2.5 m

Type of Foundation Well Foundation

Depth of Foundation 39.6 m

Outer Dia. Of Well 9m

Catchment Area 50848 Sq Km.

Design H.F.L 50 m

Design Discharge 33830 Cumecs

Seismic Zone Zone-V

Bus Bays 6 Nos.

Stair case 6 Nos.

In the light of above silent feature of the project, it was also decided with NHAI meeting to
determine optimal bridge length without guide bund, maximum scour depth and protection
works for approach roads. The bank to bank width of the river was measured as 11.2 km
and a bridge length of 10.2 km with 400m of approach road on western bund side and 550m
on eastern bund side was considered for mathematical modeling and think about the pile
foundation over well foundation. Consultant and IIT Roorkee has submited its report as
follows.

RESULTS OF MATHEMATICAL MODEL

STUDY

 Optimum Bridge Length: A bridge length of 10.2 km with

400m of approach road on western bund side and 550m
on eastern bund side, was found to be suitable and hence
recommended with adequate protection of slope and
launching apron. This layout will not necessitate the
provision of guide bund. Further reduction in bridge
length may compel to construct guide bunds.
Maximum Scour Depth:

 The following scour was estimated using HEC-GIS

Integrated Model [Ref: Figure 1.10 of report]:
Maximum Scour Depth = 29.03 m (From HFL)
  The following scour was estimated using HEC-IRC Code
Method[Ref: Figure 1.10 of Report]:
Maximum Scour Depth = 23.75 m (From HFL)

 The following scour was estimated using Direct IRC Code

Method:
Maximum Scour Depth for Pier Foundation = 2×dsm =
2×15.2 = 30.4 m

Maximum scour depth recommended in the report is 30.4m.

This is in line with the maximum scour depth adopted in Final
DPR. So, there is no need to change the DPR of KOSI Bridge.

APPLICABILITY OF PILE FOUNDATION IN PLACE OF

WELL FOUNDATION

Well foundation is preferred over Pile foundation due to

following reasons;
  Considering the Demerits of pile foundations for deep
scouring rivers and bridge site prone to disasters like cloud
burst, heavy scour, severest seismic zone etc. pile
foundation is not recommended.
 Well foundation is the most suitable type foundation in
this case (9000mm diameter below Maximum scour level
and reducing to 8000mm above maximum scour level).
Same maximum scour depth was assumed for Pile and
well foundation. Moreover, pile cut-off levels for 2000mm
and 2500mm diameter pile options have been assumed
to be same as the well cap bottom level.
 In both the cases in dynamic modeling, it can be observed
that the deflection at top of pier for earthquake load is
less in case of well foundation as compared to the case of
pile foundation and hence there will be comparatively less
harm to the superstructure of the bridge in case of well
foundation.
 In general piles are more slender structural elements than
well and therefore, are more prone to fail in buckling in
case of lateral load due to earthquake load, wind load or
water current.

In the final discussion after considering all parameters it was decided to submit cost
estimate, which was prepared by Consultant amounting Rs. 984.29 Cr.

This will be the longest road bridge 10.2km length in India. At present, the Dhola Sadia
bridge is the longest bridge over Brahamputra river in between Arunachal Pradesh and
Assam
 After clearance by NHAI, tender was invited in which lowest bidder Gammon
Engineers & Contractors Pvt. Ltd quoted its rates 11.96% above estimated rate which
under approval by competent authorities.

GENERAL ARRANGEMENT
OF KOSI BRIDGE
TYPICAL CROSS SECTION
DIMENSION DETAILS OF
SEGMENT AT MID SPAN
DIMENSION DETAILS OF
ABUTMENT
DIMENSION DETAILS FIXED PIER AND

SEISMIC STOPPERS
TYPICAL CONSTRUCTION SCHEME
OF 4X60m MODULE