Indian prime minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the Chenab Railway Bridge – the tallest railway arch bridge on the planet which is 35m taller than the Eiffel Tower.
Towering at 359m above the Chenab river within the Reasi district of the federal territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the bridge is a key a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Hyperlink (USBRL) undertaking and connects the Kashmir area with the remainder of the nation through an all-weather rail line.
Spanning 1,315m between the villages of Bakkal and Kauri, the bridge was constructed utilizing over 28,000 tonnes of metal and designed to final 120 years. It options 93 deck segments, every weighing round 85 tonnes, and might stand up to wind speeds of as much as 266kmph and seismic tremors as much as magnitude 8, in line with the Indian Categorical.
After the inauguration, Mr Modi posted on X, previously Twitter: “It’s a sense of immense delight that this bridge seamlessly blends ambition with execution, reflecting India’s rising functionality to construct futuristic infrastructure in essentially the most difficult terrains.”
One of many main engineering challenges was stabilising the slopes in a area marked by fractured Himalayan geology and excessive seismic exercise. The bridge’s structural resilience consists of the capability to stay operational even when one in all its piers fails, at a restricted pace of 30kmph. Additionally it is designed to resist explosive forces as much as 40 tonnes of TNT.
G Madhavi Latha, a specialist in rock engineering on the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), was introduced in by Northern Railways and Afcons Infrastructure to advise on slope stabilisation and basis design. “We couldn’t go along with a inflexible design. The info we discovered throughout excavation was very totally different from what floor mapping had indicated,” Ms Latha instructed Deccan Herald.
Describing the method of designing the bridge, Ms Latha defined that the staff wanted to typically modify building plans in real-time based mostly on new geological information. Cement grouting, reinforcement with metal rods, and deep excavations into rock mass had been used to stabilise the foundations; Ms Latha added that a number of changes needed to be integrated as a result of steep, unstable slopes and extremely discontinuous rock formations.
Moreover, with no pre-existing roads to the distant website, transporting heavy equipment posed a serious hurdle. Employees needed to construct over 26km of motorable roads earlier than predominant building might even start. This isolation, mixed with climate extremes and logistical constraints, hindered the bridge’s building progress a number of instances.
The USBRL undertaking as a complete has been below improvement because it was authorized in 2003 throughout former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s administration. It consists of 36 tunnels spanning 119 kilometres and 943 bridges, constructed at a complete estimated price of Rs437.8bn (£3.7bn), with the price of the Chenab Bridge alone being roughly Rs14.86bn (£128m), reported Indian media.
The Chenab Bridge was constructed below the supervision of the Konkan Railway Company and concerned a number of Indian and worldwide companions. The viaduct and basis had been designed by WSP Finland, whereas the metal arch was designed by Germany-based Leonhardt Andrä und Accomplice. Building was carried out by a three way partnership comprising Afcons Infrastructure (India), South Korea’s Extremely Building & Engineering, and VSL India. Seismic evaluation was carried out by IIT Delhi and IIT Roorkee, whereas the Defence Analysis and Improvement Organisation (DRDO) contributed to creating the bridge blast-resistant.
The bridge lies on a transition curve – a piece the place a straight alignment shifts to a curved one – including complexity to its design and building. Subtle Tekla software program was used for 3D modelling of the construction, Swiss agency Mageba provided spherical bearings, whereas the Metal Authority of India supplied the uncooked supplies for the arch.
Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah visited the bridge a day earlier than the inauguration to evaluation preparations and shared photos on X, writing: “ Tomorrow is a landmark day for J&Okay when, lastly, the valley will likely be linked to the remainder of the nation by a railway hyperlink to be inaugurated by the hands of the Hon PM.”
At its peak in 2017, the Chenab Bridge undertaking employed round 3,200 staff and engineers working concurrently, in line with a report in The New Indian Categorical. To assist this huge workforce within the distant and tough terrain, a devoted residential colony with 52 housing blocks was established near the positioning, making certain uninterrupted progress regardless of the difficult circumstances.
Now absolutely operational, the bridge is meant to function an important hyperlink for each civilian and strategic transport. The rail route connecting Katra in Jammu to Srinagar in Kashmir is anticipated to considerably lower journey time down to a few hours through the Vande Bharat Categorical, in comparison with the earlier 5 to 6 hours.
