Construction milestone! World's highest railway bridge, the Chenab Bridge
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New Delhi, April 6: The world's highest railway bridge which is a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project (USBRL) has set an important construction milestone with the completion of the steel arch of the iconic Chenab Bridge. The project is set to connect the Kashmir valley to the rest of the nation.
While the Prime Minister has lauded the completion of the Arch closure of the Chenab Bridge, it is arguably the biggest civil engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in recent history. The 5.6-meter last piece of metal was fitted at the highest point and joined the two arms of the arch that currently stretch towards each other from both the banks of the river.
This completed the shape of the arch that will then loom over the treacherous Chenab, flowing some 359 meters below. After completion of the arch work, removal of the stay cables, filling of the concrete in the arch rib, erection of the steel trestle, launching of the viaduct and track laying work will be taken up.
The completion of the historic Arch work was also seen by Piyush Goyal Minister for Railways, Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Suneet Sharma, Chairman & CEO, Railway Board, Ashutosh Gangal, General Manager Northern Railway through video conferencing.
Salient Features of the Arch of the iconic Chenab Bridge:
1. This bridge is 1315m long.
2. This is the highest Railway Bridge in the world being 359m above the river bed level.
3. It will be 35 meters higher than the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris (France).
4. Construction of Bridge involved fabrication of 28,660 MT steel, 10 Lakh Cum Earthwork, 66,000 Cum Concrete, and 26 Km motorable roads.
5. Arch consists of steel boxes. Concrete will be filled in boxes of the Arch to improve stability.
6. Overall weight of the Arch is 10,619 MT.
7. Erection of the members of the arch by overhead cable cranes done for the first time on Indian Railways.
8. The most sophisticated ‘Tekla’ software used for structural detailing.
9. Structural steel suitable for -10°C to 40°C temperature.