Bridge over the Jhelum River, Pakistan

The Jhelum River in Pakistan runs through a mountainous area in a high risk seismic zone, and its flow volumes vary dramatically with the seasons. At the town of Karote, a new bridge has been built after record floods in September 1992 rose 8 m above the deck, subjecting the previous bridge to extreme loading from thousands of tons of logs, debris and boulders, leading to stability failure. In July 1993, the National Highway Authority, with a credit from World Bank, invited international bids for reconstruction on a turn-key (design-and-construct) basis. After examining comparative costs and time schedules, a bid was submitted for construction of a post-tensioned concrete segmental cantilever bridge.