WORLD'S HIGHEST RAILWAY BRIDGE
Arc Of Chenab Bridge In Jammu And Kashmir Has Been Completed. It Is Set To Be World's Highest Railway Bridge.
It Will Be 359 Meters Above The River Bed Level And 35 Meters Higher Than The Eiffel Tower.
THE CHINAB RAILWAY BRIDGE
India has built the world's largest railway bridge in the Himalayas. The Chenab Bridge is built on the 359 meter high river Chenab. The Chenab bridge is 35 meters higher than the Eiffel tower. The length of the bridge is 1315 meters and the width is 14 meters. This is a single track railway project. But looking at the future situation, Chenab is going to build a double track railway bridge. This bridge is part of Udhampur, Srinagar, Baramulla Railway project. Construction of Chenab Bridge was completed in April 2021. This bridge connects Kashmir with India.
The construction of the bridge has cost about Rs 1486 crore. The bridge will further expand the railway network in Kashmir. This bridge plays an important role in connecting Kashmir with India.
According to the Indian Ministry of Railways, this is one of the biggest challenges facing Indian engineers.
The Chenab Bridge is an important part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project
Indian Railways has built a 1.3 km long bridge over the Chenab river in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.
It is the widest span bridge of the Indian broad gauge railway system.
Some features of Chenab Bridge: -
- Chenab Bridge is the tallest bridge in the world. The height of this bridge is about 357 meters (1117 feet). It is 35 meters taller than the Eiffel Tower.
- Chenab Bridge is 1315 meters long and can be reached by train at a speed of 100km / h.
- The weight of Chenab bridge is about 10619 MT (10619000 kg).
- The load capacity of this bridge is 500 tons.
- 28660 MT of steel is used in the construction of the bridge. 10 lakh earthworks, 66000 concrete and 26km of motorable roads. About 8million cubic feet have been excavated.
- The super structure of the bridge is 130miter long, 100 m high with two Pylons built on both ends of the Bridge and is supported by Cabers.
- 5462 tons steel is used for massive arch-shaped structured of this bridge.
- In this bridge Includes 530miter long approach bridge and 785m arch bridge.
- Tekla Software is the most advanced software used for structural detailing.
- The chinab bridge has been designed in consultation with DRDO.
Security
The Chenab bridge has a total of 38 tunnels. The longest tunnel is 12.75 km. A special type of cable is used for this bridge, its capacity is 37 metric tons. The bridge can withstand winds of up to 266 km / h. This is the first time Indian Railways has used an overhead crane. It is useful in temperatures up to -20 to 40 degree Celsius.
The Chenab Bridge is built on the Chenab River and as it is an earthquake prone area, a strong warning system has been installed on the bridge.
This bridge can withstand 8 magnitude earthquakes on richter scale.
It is claimed that this bridge will be able to provide transportation facilities to the citizens for 120 years and will last for 500 years.
The bridge is made of special blast-proof steel of 63 mm thickness and can withstand 40kg TNT blast.
Special corrosion resistance has been used in this bridge and its painting is claimed to last 15 years.
As far as other safety features are concerned, the bridge has been installed with online monitary and warning system, which will provide safety to the passenger and train in case of any emergency. The villagers can easily cross this bridge easily, for this a bicycle, footpath has also been constructed.
Appointment of companies
Finland based wsp group and Germany-based Leonhardt Andra and partners are the consultants for the project. VEC consult ZT - GmbH company has designed pylons for bridge. Jochum Andreas seiltransporte built this bridge and Installed cable for pylon.
AkzoNobel was awarded the painting contract for the bridge.
AECOM was awarded a contract to provide technical guidance and monitoring services for design and construction works.
Amberge engineering was appointed to carry out review work at the alignments.
The kokan railway corporation was the executing the project.