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World's highest railway bridge over Chenab River in India set to be completed this month

World’s Highest Railway Bridge

The 'Chenab Bridge' is a major milestone in the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link project and has been a challenging feat of engineering.


The world’s highest railway bridge on the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir is set to be completed by the third week of March, according to officials. The bridge, known as the ‘Chenab Bridge,’ is suspended between Bakkal and Kauri and spans 1,178 feet above the riverbed, making it the highest railway bridge in the world.


This engineering marvel is a key part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL), also known as the Kashmir link. Once completed, the 111-km stretch will enable trains to reach Srinagar uninterrupted, connecting it to the rest of India.

The Chenab Bridge has been under construction for the past three years, with engineers facing a significant challenge in constructing a 550-meter arch weighing 10,000 metric tons without any intermediate piers. The bridge has been built with support from two embankments, with a distance of 467 meters between them.


To build the bridge, engineers have used two mammoth cable cranes installed on both banks of the Chenab. Each crane is around a kilometer long, and the two have been working in synchrony to join pieces of the arch bit by bit. The steel pieces were cut with computerized machines and tested before being approved for deployment. The welding of the steel pieces was carried out in a national-accredited welding lab/workshop erected on the construction site, a first for a project in India.


The completion of the Chenab Bridge is a significant milestone for the USBRL project, which has faced several challenges due to the geologically treacherous terrain in the region. The railway link to Kashmir currently consists of a 25-kilometer stretch from Udhampur to Katra, 18 km of the line from Banihal to Qazigund in the valley, and a 118-kilometer stretch from Qazigund to Baramulla. The only missing link is the 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal.


The construction of the Chenab Bridge has been the biggest civil-engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in recent history. The bridge is being built at around Rs 1,400 crore, and once completed, it will enable trains to travel all the way from Kanyakumari to Srinagar uninterrupted. This engineering marvel is a testament to the skills and expertise of Indian engineers and their ability to overcome seemingly impossible challenges.


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