The defence ministry on Wednesday said it has signed a contract with Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for the procurement of 41 indigenous modular bridges worth over Rs 2,585 crore for the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army.

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The bridges have been designed and developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and shall be produced by Larsen & Toubro as a DRDO-nominated production agency.

Each set of modular bridges shall consist of seven carrier vehicles based on 8x8 Heavy Mobility Vehicles and two launcher vehicles based on 10x10 Heavy Mobility Vehicles. Each set shall be capable of mechanically launching a single span fully decked 46-meter assault bridge, the ministry said.

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The bridge can be employed over various types of obstacles like canals & ditches with quick launching and retrieval capabilities. The equipment is highly mobile, versatile, rugged and capable of keeping pace with wheeled and tracked mechanized vehicles, it said.

The modular bridges will replace the manually-­launched Medium Girder Bridges (MGB) that are currently being used in the Indian Army. The indigenously designed and manufactured Modular bridges shall have many advantages over the MGB such as increased span, less time for construction and mechanical launching with retrieval capability.

The procurement of these bridges will give a major boost to the bridging capability of the Indian Army on the Western Front and a major boost to indigenisation of defence equipment under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

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(Edited by : Pradeep John)

First Published:Feb 8, 2023 7:43 PM IST