Jammu: Claiming that the construction of world’s highest rail bridge on river Chenab is done on ‘fix it, forget it’ basis, Union Railways Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that a special training academy will come up for the technical staff and the engineers engaged with this project and those into the railways department.
The bridge stands 359 metres above the river bed level and is 35 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower in France, making it the highest in the world.
“As far as the maintenance part is concerned, this project is very very important. The tracks and tunnels are planned and designed in such a way that it requires least maintenance as possible,” the Railways Minister told reporters during a press conference after inspecting the bridge in Reasi district.
The minister, who was on a two day visit to Jammu and Kashmir, this morning inspected the bridge at Reasi district on the second leg of his tour after visiting Kashmir.
“Though the construction is based on ‘fix it, forget it’ basis, we are creating a special training academy in Jammu for railways technical staff, employees and engineers,” said the minister.
He said, “our engineers can get training and learn more about this project so that along with getting skilled, the maintenance, model and experience of Chenab bridge’s construction can also be utilised in projects in progress or coming up in other parts of the country.”
“I met the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha last evening and discussed the academy matter with him and he has assured us of the land, which is to be identified very soon,” Vaishnaw added.
He further revealed that this (Chenab) rail bridge is designed with Richter scale 8 seismic activity, adding, “the foundation has been designed practically which is half the size of a football field.”
The minister asserted, “28000 tonnes of steel is used and the welding is around 600-km. All safety and security measures are taken into consideration. It is a very tough and strong bridge.”
As part of connecting Kashmir to every part of the country, the work on one of the most strategic projects–272-km long–Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project(USBRL), has been expedited and is expected to be completed before 2024 Parliament elections with an aim to dedicate the facility to the people of the nation.
Declared as “National Project” in 2002, the Project involves 38 Tunnels (combined length of 119Km), the longest Tunnel (T-49) having a length of 12.75 Km and is the country’s longest transportation tunnel.
There are 927 Bridges (combined length of 13 Km), which include the iconic Chenab Bridge (Overall length 1315 m, Arch span of 467 m and height of 359 m above river bed) which will be the highest railway bridge in the world.
Indian railway’s first cable-stayed bridge is also being constructed on Anji Khad.
UNI
