First vertical-lift railway sea bridge in India fast-tracked; pilgrims to Rameswaram will benefit | know this engineering marvel

On Sunday (November 10), Ministry of Railways provided insight about the project. It tweeted, “Over the roaring seas, one of the most challenging infrastructure of IR is coming up! Construction of India’s first Vertical Lift Railway Sea Bridge connecting Rameswaram on Pamban Island to mainland is being fastracked.”  (Source: Ministry of Railways)

Soon Railway minster Piyush Goyal retweeted it and appeared upbeat about the project. Goyal wrote, “Engineering marvel in making! Construction work of India’s first Vertical Lift Railway Sea Bridge connecting Mandapam in Tamil Nadu to Rameswaram at the Pamban island is in full swing. New Pamban bridge will enhance convenience of pilgrims visiting the holy site of Rameswaram.” (Source: Ministry of Railways)

In July, Indian Railways has started constructing the first pillar in the sea for the bridge that will be constructed at a cost of Rs 280 crores. (Source: Ministry of Railways)     

The new bridge will replace the old Pamban Bridge, which requires frequent maintenance and has a limited capacity for train operations. The existing bridge is 2,058-metre long and has been in use for more than 100 years. Indian Railways had planned the new vertical bridge as the old bridge has been almost non-operational for the last few years. The existing bridge is being manually operated. However, the new bridge will have electro-mechanical controlled systems which will be interlocked with train control systems. Source: ANI  
 

*The new bridge will have a 63-metre stretch which will lift up while remaining parallel to the deck to allow access to the ships. It will have 100 spans of 18.3 metre and one navigational span of 63 metre.  
*It will be three-metre higher than the existing bridge with navigational air clearance of 22 metre above sea level. Because of the vertical lift, full horizontal width of 63m will be available for navigation.
*The substructure of the bridge will be built for double line and the navigational span will also have provision for double line.  
*Pamban bridge uses ‘Scherzer’ rolling lift technology in which the bridge opens up horizontally. In the new bridge, a 63-metre section will lift vertically upwards remaining parallel to the deck. It will be done using sensors at each end. *The entire bridge including navigational span will be designed keeping in mind the Indian Railways’ electrification plan.  With Agencies inputs.   (Source: Ministry of Railways)