New Delhi: After much delay, the Public Works Department has moved to install a height barrier for the Bailey bridge on Ring Road. The bridge will be a stopgap link connecting Rajputana Rifles Recruitment Centre to its training and parade ground at Delhi Cantonment. Soldiers now use a narrow culvert to reach the ground for their daily drills.Three weeks after issuing a tender to construct a foot overbridge from Mandir Gate at the centre to the training area, PWD has floated another for constructing the height barrier. The Rs 38.2-lakh tender has set a one-month deadline and specifies that the work must be carried out without disrupting vehicular flow on Ring Road, where construction space is limited.Officials said the bridge, a quick-to-install Army-grade portable structure, was recommended as an interim solution until the FOB was ready. In July, Delhi High Court asked PWD to expedite the process of providing soldiers with a safer and more dignified access to their training ground. A bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Manmeet PS Arora was monitoring the progress in a suo motu case after a news report had highlighted that soldiers of the regiment were forced to negotiate a “smelly trail” to commute from their barracks.Founded in 1921, the oldest rifle regiment of Indian Army is headquartered at Delhi Cantonment. At least 1,500 soldiers use the route daily, with peak flows of 400-500 during morning, afternoon and evening sessions.A Bailey bridge, a modular, pre-fabricated steel structure designed for rapid assembly and deployment, was invented by Sir Donald Coleman Bailey during World War II. Its standardised, interchangeable components allow for quick construction by hand or with light machinery on diverse terrains, making it ideal for military operations, disaster relief and transport links. During Commonwealth Games 2010, the Army had built such a bridge within a week for the first time in the city.
