New pictures of the World’s Highest Railway Bridge over Chenab are giving goosebumps.
An arch-shaped bridge is 35 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower in France
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday shared a picture of the arch of the world’s highest railway bridge, the Chenab bridge. “The world’s highest arch Chenab Bridge over the clouds,” he tweeted.
The image features the bridge arching above the clouds with mountains standing tall in the background.
The Chenab bridge, located in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district, is 1,315-metre long and aims to boost connectivity to the Kashmir Valley.
The Chenab bridge holds the distinction of being the highest railway bridge in the world at 359 meters above the river bed level.
Sambit Patra, National Spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party also shared images showcasing the bridge arch from various angles.
“What a spectacular picture of the 1315 m long Chenab bridge arch in Reasi, J&K. The bridge is truly an engineering marvel. The bridge will stand at 359m above river bed level and it will be higher than the Eiffel tower. The bridge aims to boost connectivity to Kashmir valley,” he said.
The bridge is part of 110 kilometers long rail line between Katra and Banihal. It is likely to be completed within the next two years. A part of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail line, the project aims to provide an alternative surface link between Kashmir and the rest of the country. The 53-kilometer-long railway line’s 96% passes through underground tunnels
Construction
This bridge Construction of Bridge involved the fabrication of 28,660 MT steel, 10 Lakh cubic meters (Cum0 Earthwork, 66,000 Cum Concrete, and 26 km motorable roads. The Arch of the bridge consists of steel boxes. Concrete will be filled in boxes of the Arch to improve stability. The overall weight of Arch is 10,619 MT. The total span is 17.
The erection of the members of the arch by overhead cable cranes was done for the first time on Indian Railways. The most sophisticated ‘Tekla’ software is used for structural detailing. Also, the structural steel is suitable for -10°C to 40°C temperature. The cost of the bridge came at Rs 1486 crore.
Features
The bridge is designed to withstand high wind speed up to 266 Km/Hour and will remain operational at a restricted speed of 30 Km/Hour even after the removal of one pier/trestle.
The bridge was designed for blast load in consultation with DRDO for the first time in India. The bridge is designed to bear earthquake forces of highest intensity zone-V in India.
For the first time in Indian Railways, a Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing machine was used for testing welds. Approximately 584Km welding was done to join the different parts of the structure, which is to the tune of the distance between Jammu Tawi to New Delhi.
Also, the height of the cable crane’s pylon at Srinagar End is 127m, which is much taller than Qutub Minar of 72m.
