Wed May 21 19:19:05 UTC 2025: Here’s a summary and news article based on the provided text:

**Summary:**

Experts at the i-MAP 2025 conference in Chennai highlighted the urgent need for infrastructure development and maintenance, particularly in light of aging structures and increasing demands. Speakers emphasized the importance of collaboration between research institutions like CSIR-SERC, IITs, and government agencies like the Ministry of Railways to address challenges in infrastructure monitoring, assessment, and predictive maintenance. The need for updated codes, increased research capacity, and innovative solutions for sustaining existing infrastructure were also discussed.

**News Article:**

**Infrastructure Experts Call for Quantum Leap in Development and Maintenance at i-MAP 2025**

**Chennai, May 22, 2025:** Leading infrastructure experts convened at the diamond jubilee conference on ‘Monitoring, Assessment and Predictive Maintenance of Critical Infrastructures, i-MAP 2025’ in Chennai, issuing a call for a significant acceleration in infrastructure development and maintenance efforts across India.

T. Archunan, director (projects) of Chennai Metro Rail Limited, emphasized the necessity of expanding the capacity of research institutions to meet the growing demands of the infrastructure sector. “We need more institutions like CSIR-SERC,” he stated, “and existing institutions need to ramp up to meet the demands of infrastructure projects. We don’t have tunnel codes. We have to improve our theory to suit our execution.”

Ravindra Kumar Goel, principal executive director (bridges) at the Ministry of Railways, highlighted the challenges of maintaining the country’s aging railway infrastructure. “There are nearly 34,000 bridges which are more than 100 years old, and we have to sustain them. It is not easy,” he explained. Goel stressed the need for closer collaboration with research institutions like CSIR-SERC and IITs to find innovative solutions for maintaining and upgrading existing structures. He cited the Pamban bridge as an example, where CSIR-SERC provided vital health monitoring system instrumentation.

Srinivas Voggu, chief scientist at CSIR-SERC and organiser of i-MAP 2025, affirmed the organization’s commitment to assessing and improving the performance of critical infrastructure across the nation. N. Anandavalli, director of CSIR-SERC, also spoke at the event.

The conference underscored the critical role of research, innovation, and collaboration in ensuring the safety, reliability, and longevity of India’s vital infrastructure assets.

Read More