IRC:7-2017

RECOMMENDED PRACTICE FOR

NUMBERING CULVERTS, BRIDGES
AND TUNNELS

(Second Revision)

(The Official amendments to this document would be published by

the IRC in its periodical, ‘Indian Highways’ which shall be
considered as effective and as part of the Code/Guidelines/Manual,
etc. from the date specified therein)

INDIAN ROADS CONGRESS

2017
 IRC: 7-2017

RECOMMENDED PRACTICE FOR

NUMBERING CULVERTS, BRIDGES
AND TUNNELS
(Second Revision)

Published by:

INDIAN ROADS CONGRESS

Kama Koti Marg,
Sector-6, R.K. Puram,
New Delhi-110 022

NOVEMBER 2017

Price : ` 100/-
(Plus Packing & Postage)
IRC: 7-2017

First Published : December, 1959

First Revision : December, 1971
Reprinted : April, 1979
Reprinted : April, 2001
Reprinted : July, 2004
Reprinted : February, 2007
Reprinted : October, 2009
Second Revision : November, 2017
Reprinted : September, 2019

(All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication shall be reproduced,

translated or transmitted in any form or by any means without the
permission of the Indian Roads Congress)

Printed by I G Printers Pvt Ltd, New Delhi-110020

300 Copies
 IRC: 7-2017

CONTENTS

S. No. Description Page No.

Personnel of the Bridges Specifications and Standards Committee i
1. Introduction 2
2. Scope 2
3. Numbering of Structures 2
4. Salient Information 3
5. Inscription of Structure Number 3
6. Information Plate 4
7. Numerals and details 4
8. Maintenance 4
 IRC: 7-2017

PERSONNEL OF THE BRIDGES SPECIFICATIONS

AND STANDARDS COMMITTEE
(as on 24th June, 2017)

1 Kumar, Manoj Director General (Road Development) & Special Secretary to Govt. of
(Convenor) India, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, New Delhi
2 Singh, B.N. Additional Director General, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
(Co-convenor) New Delhi
3 Sinha, B.K. Chief Engineer (B) S&R, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways,
(Member-Secretary) Transport Bhavan, New Delhi
Members
4 Alam, Pervez Chief Operating Officer, Hindustan Construction Company Ltd.
5 Arora, D.S. Jt. Managing Director (Retd.), UP State Bridge Corporation Ltd.
6 Banerjee, A.K. Member (Technical) (Retd.), National Highway Authority of India
7 Bansal, Shishir Chief Project Manager, Delhi Tourism, DTTDC Ltd.
8 Basa, Ashok Managing Director, CEM Consultant (P) Ltd.
9 Bhowmick, Alok Managing Director, B&S Engineering Consultants Pvt. Ltd., UP
10 Bordoloi, A.C. Commissioner & Spl. Secretary (Retd.), P.W.B. & N.H. Deptt,
PWD Assam
11 Chand, Faqir Advisor, STUP
12 The CMD, Engg. Proj. (I) Engineering Project (India) Ltd., New Delhi
Ltd. (Bakshi, S.P.S.)
13 The DG, BRO Border Roads Organization, New Delhi
(Shrivastava, Lt. Gen.
S.K)
14 The DG, INSDAG Institute for Steel Development & Growth (INSDAG), Kolkata
(Banerjee, Sushim)
15 Dheeraj Superintending Engineer, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
New Delhi
16 Dohare, R.D. Chief Engineer (Retd.), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
New Delhi
17 The E in C, MES Military Engineer Service (MES), New Delhi
(Sharma AVSM, Lt. Gen.
Suresh)
18 Ghoshal, A. Principal Advisor, STUP Consultants (P) Ltd. Kolkata
19 Gupta, Dr. Supratic Asst. Professor, IIT, New Delhi
20 Heggade, V.N. Vice President, Gammon Engineers & Contractors (GECPL). Mumbai
21 Khanna, Shobha Executive Engineer, PWD Ujjain, M.P.
22 Kondai, Bikshapathi Director General, National Academy of Construction, Hyderabad
23 Kumar, Ashwani Superintending Engineer, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
New Delhi
24 Kumar, Satander Scientist (Retd.), CRRI

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IRC: 7-2017

25 Pandey, A.K. Superintending Engineer, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,

New Delhi
26 Pandey, R.K. Member (Project), National Highway Authority of India,
New Delhi
27 Parameswaran, Dr. Chief Scientist (BAS), Central Road Research Institute,
Lakshmy New Delhi
28 Patankar, V.L DG(RD)&SS (Retd.), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
New Delhi
29 Pateriya, Dr. I.K. Director (Technical), National Rural Road Development Agency,
New Delhi
30 Puri, S.K. DG(RD)&SS (Retd.), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
New Delhi
31 Raina, Dr. V.K. Consultant, World Bank
32 Raizada, Pratap S. Senior Vice President, Gammon India Ltd. Mumbai
33 Sharan, G. DG(RD)&SS (Retd.), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
New Delhi
34 Sharma, R.S. Managing Director, M/s STP Ltd., New Delhi
35 Shekhar, Saurav Director, SA Infra Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
36 Sinha, N.K. DG(RD)&SS (Retd.), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
New Delhi
37 Srivastava, A.K. Chief Engineer, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, New Delhi
38 Subbarao, Dr. Chairman & Managing Director, Construma Consultancy (P) Ltd.
Harshavardhan Mumbai
39 Tandon, Mahesh Prof. Managing Director, Tandon Consultants (P) Ltd., New Delhi
40 Verma, G.L. Managing Director, Engineering & Planning Constructions, New Delhi
Corresponding Members
1 Kand, Sunil C. Director, C.V Kand Consultant, Bhopal
2 Koshi, Ninan DG(RD) &SS (Retd.), Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,
New Delhi
3 Manjure, P.Y. Director, Freyssinet Prestressed Concrete Company Ltd (FPCC),
Mumbai
4 Reddi, Dr. S.A. Former JMD GIL
5 The Director, SERC, TN (Iyer, Prof. Nagesh R)
Ex-Officio Members
President, (Pradhan, N.K.)
Indian Roads Congress E-in-C cum Secretary,
Works Department, Odisha
Honorary Treasurer, (Kumar, Manoj)
Indian Roads Congress Director General (Road Development) & Spl. Secretary,
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
Secretary General, Nirmal, Sanjay Kumar
Indian Roads Congress

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 IRC: 7-2017

RECOMMENDED PRACTICE FOR NUMBERING CULVERTS,

BRIDGES AND TUNNELS

IRC:7-1971 Recommended Practice for Numbering Bridges and Culverts was first published
in 1959 and was first revised in 1971. The General Design Features (Bridges & Grade
Separated Structures) Committee (B-1) felt the necessity to revise this document. The B-1
Committee approved the draft document in its meeting held on 9th January, 2016 for placing
before the Bridges Specifications & Standards Committee (BSS). The BSS Committee in its
meeting held on 24th June, 2017 approved this document. The Council in its 212th meeting
held on 14th & 15th July, 2017 at Udaipur (Rajasthan) approved the draft revision of IRC:7
“Recommended Practice for Numbering Culverts, Bridges and Tunnels” after taking on board
the comments offered by the Members.
The General Design Features (Bridges & Grade Separated Structures) Committee (B-1) of
the Indian Roads Congress was constituted in 2015 with the following personnel:

Sinha, N.K. …….. Convenor

Viswanathan, T. …….. Co-Convenor
Bhowmick, Alok …….. Member-Secretary

Members

Agrawal, K.N. Kanhere, Dr. D.K.

Arora, H.C. Kumar, Ashok
Bagish, Dr. B.P. Kurian, Jose
Baroka, Arun Marwah, M.P.
Basa, Ashok Mazumder, Prof. S.K.
Bhattacharyya, Shantanoo Mittal, K.K.
Bordoloi, A.C. Rastogi, D.K.
Dhodapkar, A.N. Roy, Dr. B.C.
Goel, Dr. Rajeev Sharan, G.
Gupta, Dr. Pradeep Kumar Tiwari, Devender
Huda, Y.S. Verma, G.L.
Corresponding Members
Kand, Dr. C.V. Rao, Dr. M.V.B.
Sharma, D.D.
Ex-Officio Members
President, IRC DG(RD) & SS MORTH
(Pradhan, N.K.) (Kumar, Manoj)
Secretary General, IRC
(Nirmal, S.K.)

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IRC: 7-2017

1 INTRODUCTION

A uniform system of numbering of all the structures is essential for proper asset management.
All culverts, minor bridges, major bridges, underpasses, flyovers, grade separators and tunnels
on road shall be assigned separate numbers. This is a means for their easy identification of
location and type of structure for the personnel for inspection and maintenance.

2 SCOPE

2.1 This document covers structures on all roads in the country.

2.2 Structures shall include

i) All culverts, including slab, box, hume pipes etc.
ii) All bridges
iii) All underpasses
iv) All overpasses, pedestrian bridges etc.
v) ROB’s, flyovers and grade separator etc.
vi) Tunnels
vii) Any other structure

3 NUMBERING OF STRUCTURES

3.1 All structures on a road shall be numbered in serial order, in each kilometer separately.

3.2 The number shall be in the form of a fraction, the numerator denoting the number
of kilometer in which the structure is situated and the denominator the km wise serial number
of the structure. For instance, the 5th structure in the 4th km (i.e. between km stones 3 and 4)
shall be designated as 4/5, and the 8th structure in 25th km as 25/8.

3.3 For multi-lane carriageways, there should be either one combined structure or
separate bridge structures. In case of one combined structure, the structure number shall be
designated as in Sub-Clause 3.2 above. In case of separate bridge structures, the structure
number shall be indicated as mentioned hereinafter. As the section progresses, the left hand
side structure will have a suffix ‘L’ and the right hand side structure will have a suffix ‘R’.
Similarly, the structures on service roads will have additional suffix ‘S’. For example:

Location of structures Structure no.

2nd structure between km 280 and 281
i. Left side structure on service road 281/2 LS
ii. Right side structure on service road 281/2 RS
iii. Left side structure on main carriageway 281/2 L
iv. Right side structure on main carriageway 281/2 R

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 IRC: 7-2017

3.4 If any new culvert bridge or structures are built subsequently, say between the 3rd.
and 4 structure in km 375, the same shall be designated as 375/3/1, 375/3/2, etc.
th

4 SALIENT INFORMATION

For inspection and maintenance, it is useful to have mention of following salient information
about structures:
a) Year of construction
b) Name of Channel / River / Crossing
c) Length
d) Span arrangement
e) HFL
f) Deck Level*1
g) Roadway
h) Type of structure [e.g. RCC/PSC, T-Beam and slab, Box girder, RCC/Stone
Slab, Box culvert, tunnel feature, Arch, HP, Steel, Cable stayed, Extra-dosed].
These shall be provided on separate plate on the right hand side of the carriageway or the
road.

5 INSCRIPTION OF STRUCTURE NUMBER

5.1 The structure number shall be inscribed near the top left hand side parapet wall
railing posts for end of crash barrier as seen by traffic in the end elevation when approaching
the structure from each direction. These are illustrated in Figs.1, 2 and 3.

5.2 In situations where instead of parapet walls, the structure is provided with railings,
but having no end supporting pillars on which the number etc. could be inscribed, the number
of the structure shall be indicated by means of a separate numbering plate of the size
300 mm x 300 mm. There shall be two such numbering plates, one for each direction. The
plates shall be welded or fixed securely on the left hand side facing the carriageway as close
to entrance to the structure as possible.

5.3 In case of structures, such as pipe culverts, where there are usually no parapet
walls or railings at the roadway level, two stone or R.C.C. marker posts, having a cross
section of 150 mm x 150 mm and exposed height of at least 300 mm, shall be set up on the
left side, one in each direction. Care shall be taken to locate the marker posts fully outside

*1 Deck Level shall indicate the level of bridge deck at the starting point of bridge as the section
progresses, as under:
i) For 2-lane bridge – Deck Level at the road kerb (right side)
ii) For multi-lane carriageway – Deck Level at median

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IRC: 7-2017

the prescribed roadway width. The culvert number shall be either engraved or painted.
Alternatively, the number might also be inscribed at a suitable location on the head wall of
the structure above the highest flood level.

6 INFORMATION PLATE

6.1 The information of the structure shall be inscribed on two information plates one in
each direction and fixed in the end elevation on a plate size near the top right hand side parapet
wall / railing parts or end post of crash barrier etc. in the end elevation when approaching the
structure. Information plate shall be of size 300 mm x 500 mm (for minor bridge and culverts)
and 500 mm X 1000 m (for major bridges and other structures) Illustration is given in Fig. 4.
The plate shall be fixed near the top right hand side.

6.2 In situation where instead of parapet walls, the structure is provided with railings,
but having no end supporting pillars on which information could be inscribed, the same shall
be indicated on a separate information plate of size 300 x 500 m. There shall be two such
information plates, one in each direction. The plates shall be welded or fixed securely on the
right hand side facing the carriageway as close to the entrance to the structure as possible.

6.3 In case of structures, such as pipe culverts where there are usually no parapet
walls or rallings, at the roadway level, two stone or R.C.C. posts having a cross section of
150 x 150 mm and exposed height of at least 500 mm, shall be set up on right side, one in
each direction, on which an information plate of size 300 x 500 mm shall be fixed or welded
securely. Care shall be taken to locate the posts and the plates fully outside the prescribed
roadway width.

7 NUMERALS AND DETAILS

7.1 The numerals used shall be 100 mm high and of international form conforming to
IRC: 30-1968 Standard Letters and Numerals of Different Height for use on Highway Signs.
These shall be painted on smooth panels as prescribed. In case of right hand panel the
height shall be suitably adjusted so that it does not obstruct the visibility. The colour of the
background shall be canary yellow, ISI Shade 309.

8 MAINTENANCE

8.1 The structure numbers and information plate shall be updated whenever any
change takes place affecting the existing position. They shall be kept clean well maintained
and regularly painted.

4
 

'B'
'A'

END VIEW
END VIEWOF
OFAACULVERT
BRIDGE
END VIEW OF A CULVERT

25

5
25
DETAIL "A-A"
DETAIL "B-B"
NOTES:-
NOTES:-

Fig. 1 Structure Number Fig. 2 Structure Number

IRC: 7-2017
 

0.150
ROAD WAY
C R.C.C. OR STONE MARKER
POST 150mm SQUARE
SHOULDER CARRIAGE WAY SHOULDER R.C.C. OR STONE MARKER
POST 150mm SQUARE 0.300
0.275 0.275
SHOULDER
0.050
EMBEDDED ALL ROUND IN LINE SURKHI
CONCRETE OR LEAN CEMENT CONCRETE

BURIED CULVERTS
0.400

0.150 0.150 0.150

EMBEDDED ALL ROUND IN LINE

0.150 SURKHI CONCRETE OR
SECTION AT -1 1 LEAN CEMENT CONCRETE

DETAILS AT-C

1.000

7
ROAD WAY

0.150
0.275 0.450 0.275

0.300
SHOULDER CARRIAGE WAY SHOULDER
150X150 mm MARKER POST
1 1
0.050
1.000
1.000 BURIED CULVERTS 1.000
D
300X300 mm PANEL ON BASE
0.300 FOR INSCRIPTION OF
D THE CULVERT NUMBER

0.050

0.150

PLAN

DETAILS AT-D

Fig. 3 Structure number for Pipe Culverts

FIG-3and other Structures without end Pillars
ALL DIMENSION IN mm
ALL DIMENSION IN mm
IRC: 7-2017
 IRC: 7-2017

H.F.L. : 450.00
DECK LEVEL : 460.00

Fig. 4 Information Plate for Major Bridges and other Structures