30 MAR 2023

India Gets Ready For World's Highest Rail Bridge

DRISTI SHARMA

India will soon have a Railway Bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower by 35 m, which will claim the title of the highest bridge in the world.

Photo: twitter/Ministry of Railways

tALLER THAN EIFFEL TOWER

WHERE?

The Chenab Rail Bridge is between Bakkal and Kauri, and just 42 km from the Reasi district of Jammu & Kashmir. It is being constructed over the Chenab River.

VIDEO: twitter/Jagdish Makwana

DIMENSIONS

The bridge is situated at a height of 359 m and is 1.3 km long.  The bridge has a design speed of 100 kmph for trains.

VIDEO: twitter/Ministry of Railways

from 7.5 to 3.5 hours

The aim is to operate Vande Bharat trains in the area, which will shorten the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar to 3.5 hours instead 7.5 hours.

Photo: twitter/konKaN railways

CONNECTING j&k

The project is part of the USBRL Railway project that aims to provide connectivity between Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of India.

PHOTO: twitter/konkan railways
VIDEO: tWITTER/rajtoday

who is building it?

Several international agencies and IITs are providing their expertise to the project, along with Konkan Railway Corporation.

COST OF THE PROJECT

The estimated cost of the proejct is Rs 1,486 crore. The construction of the bridge began in August 2004.

Photo: twitter/ministry of railways
PHOTO: TWITTER

a challenging task

The Chenab Rail Bridge is in an earthquake-prone area, and the biggest challenge was to get the concrete foundation design right.

VIDEO: tWITTER/iNDIAN RAILWAYS

testS AND TESTS

The building of the bridge is under process and will be completed by 2023-24, according to the government.