Bailey Bridge in Uttarakhand

• 10 Jun 2025

Why in News? 

The residents of Milam village are facing significant accessibility issues due to an avalanche that damaged the Bailey bridge over the Gaokha River. 

• The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has been instructed to repair the damage and reinstall the bridge at the earliest.

Key Points 

• Location of the Bridge:  
  • Situated approximately 8 km from Milam village, the Bailey bridge is a vital connection between the village and several security posts along the China border. 
    • Milam village with a population of around 400 residents, is the last inhabited settlement in the Johar Valley, located near the India-China border.  
  • The 65-km-long Munsyari–Milam route is the only access corridor for residents during these seasonal movements. 
• About Bailey Bridge: 
  • A Bailey bridge is a type of modular bridge whose parts are pre-built, so they can be put together quickly as needed.  
  • Donald Coleman Bailey, an English civil engineer credited with inventing it during World War II. 
    • Their key features include modular design, ease of transport, high load-bearing capacity, and adaptability to various terrains. 
  • Bailey bridges are specifically engineered for quick assembly in challenging environments, requiring neither heavy machinery nor advanced construction techniques. 
  • The Indian armed forces inherited the Bailey bridge design from the British, using it in the 1971 war with Pakistan and in various disaster relief efforts, such as after the 2021 Uttarakhand flash floods. 

Avalanche 

• About:  
  • An avalanche is the rapid flow of snow, ice, and debris down a mountain slope. It often carries earth, rocks, and rubble, causing destruction.  
  • Avalanche risk peaks from December to April due to heavy winter snowfall (snow accumulation) and spring thaw (weakening snow layers). 
• Types:  
  • Loose Snow Avalanche: It starts from a single point where snow is not well bonded, spreads in an inverted V-shape as snow particles fall, and is less dangerous due to lower volume and speed.  
  • Slab Avalanche: It occurs when a cohesive snow slab breaks away from underlying layers, often reaching speeds of 50–100 km/h and causing significant destruction.  
  • Gliding Avalanche: The snowpack slides down a smooth surface, like grass or rock slabs, leaving a broad fracture line separating it from stationary snow.  
  • Wet-Snow Avalanche: A wet-snow avalanche is naturally triggered by rising temperatures or rain, as meltwater weakens the snow layer bonds. 

Border Road Organisation (BRO) 

• BRO was conceived and raised in 1960 for co-ordinating the speedy development of a network of roads in the North and the North Eastern border regions of the country. 
  • It works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence. 
• It has diversified into a large spectrum of construction and development works comprising airfields, building projects, defence works and tunneling and has endeared itself to the people. 
• The Union Government set up the Border Roads Development Board (BRDB) with the Prime Minister as Chairman of the Board and Defence Minister as Deputy Chairman.