Indian Railways is working on increasing connectivity to remote areas by building railway links. The organization recently completed its work on the world’s highest railway bridge in Kashmir and is now nearing the completion of another first of its kind project. Notably, the Indian Railways has completed 81 per cent of the work on the Pamban Bridge connecting Rameswaram and Dhanushkodi rail link in Tamil Nadu.
It is the first vertical lift railway bridge in India. The bridge after completion will facilitate railways in carrying more load with increased speed and volume of traffic on the route. In addition, with the advantage of height, the bridge will allow ships and streamers to pass through as well.
Sharing the update on Twitter, the Ministry of Railways said, “India’s First Vertical Lift Railway Sea Bridge – Pamban Bridge connects the mainland of India to Rameswaram Island.” Adding the updates, the ministry said, “81 per cent work completed, all 333 piles completed, pile cap and sub-structure: all 101 completed, 76 out of 99 girders launched.” It should be noted that the tweet also contained several photos of the project.
The new Pamban Bridge is expected to be commissioned in March next year. However, Indian Railways has not provided any exact timetable for when the construction of the bridge will be completed.
The bridge will cost about Rs 250 crore. The 63-metre-long section of the bridge would be over 2 km long, while still parallel to the deck to provide access to ships. The bridge is 6,776 feet (2,065 m) long and 12.5 meters above sea level. Thanks to its planned automobile construction, two ships would be able to cross the bridge simultaneously.
The General Manager, Southern Railway said, “The old Pamban bridge was commissioned on February 24, 1914. Therefore, almost 108 years have passed, and now it is time to move forward with new technologies. The estimated cost of the new bridge is ₹ 250 crore and the target is to complete it this year.”