Chenab Bridge, the world’s highest railway bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, is almost ready, and will likely open for railway operations soon. Referring to it as an ‘infrastructure marvel in making’, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal also shared a photo of the 476 m-long steel arches of the upcoming railway bridge over the Chenab River in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.
“Infrastructural Marvel in Making: Indian Railways is well on track to achieve another engineering milestone with the steel arch of Chenab bridge reaching at closure position. It is all set to be the world’s highest Railway bridge,” Goyal tweeted sharing the important development. The Railways Ministry too shared the photo of the steel arch reaching completion.
The ₹ 1,250-crore bridge will stand 35 metres taller than the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris. Reportedly, Indian Railways has been constructing this bridge over the Chenab River, under Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project (USBRL). Built at a height of 359 m, Chenab Bridge has always been in the news as it was touted to become the world’s highest railway bridge. The arch bridge is a part of an ambitious railway project connecting Kashmir to the rest of India. Work on putting the main arch began in November 2017.
The railway bridge will be able to withstand up to 8 magnitude earthquakes and high-intensity blasts, railway officials had said at the time of the project launch. It will also have a “security setup” against possible terror threats and quakes, officials had said. The overall length of the bridge is 1,315 metres.
It will be a key link in the 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal which is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla section of the Kashmir Railway project.
The construction started in 2004, but the work was stopped in 2008-09 on the aspect of safety of rail passengers due to frequent high velocity winds in the area.
