Introduction and Topography
Indian Railways has undertaken the mega-project of construction of a new railway line in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, from Udhampur to Baramulla, which has been declared a national project. The alignment is a culmination of a large number of tunnels and bridges which are to be implemented in highly rugged and mountainous terrain, with the difficult Himalayan geology. The alignment crosses a deep gorge of the Chenab River, near Salal Hydro Power Dam, which necessitates construction of a long span bridge. After many deliberations, the configurations of steel arches were found most suitable, on account of aesthetics, economy, and availability of local expertise and construction materials.
The Chenab Bridge, 359 m (1,178 ft) above river bed, will be the highest arch bridge in the world, and longest span for a BG rail line with arch span of 480 m (1,570 ft). This bridge is in the most difficult part of the project which has been assigned to the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. Many experts throughout the globe, based on their versatile and relevant experience, have been involved, in order to make this project a success.
National codes of India, Indian Railway Standards (IRS), Indian Road Congress (IRC) and Indian Standards (IS) have been supplemented with International standards; British Standards (BS), International Union of Railways (UIC) and Euro, as national codes, were found inadequate for such large spans. The Quality aspect has been emphasized, as the quantum of fabrication and welding is colossal. Mostly indigenous material has been planned to be used, whereas for the design, international codes have been referred, which means the Quality Control work is still difficult.
Regular painting of such bridges is an intimidating task; hence, a painting scheme has been developed, having life over 15 years, compared to 5 to 7 years (approx.) of life in most of the Indian railway bridges. The erection scheme for the bridge is a project in itself, where two pylons (about 130 m and 100 m high) are to be erected on either side of the river, and two auxiliary cable cranes (Capacity 80T each), consisting of self-propelled equipment, will be running on the carrying ropes across these pylons.
Read more about this topic: Chenab Bridge
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