Indian Railways completes construction of world highest bridge's arch in J&K, 35m higher than Eiffel tower

Indian Railways completed the construction of the arch of Chenab Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir. It is world's highest railways bridge being 359 meters above the riverbed level, 35 meters higher than the iconic Eiffel Tower (Paris, France).

"Chenab Bridge, part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project (USBRL), set an important construction milestone today with completion of the steel arch. This is a major leap towards the completion of the 111 km - long stretch from Katra to Banihal," the ministry of railways said in its official communiqué.

The construction of bridge involved fabrication of 28,660 MT steel, 10 Lakh cum earthwork, 66,000 cum concrete and 26 Km motorable roads. The complex part of the bridge — the arch, made up of steel boxes. Concrete will be filled in boxes to improve stability.

The ministry also said, "The 5.6-metre last piece of metal was fitted at the highest point today and joined the two arms of the arch that currently stretch towards each other from both the banks of the river." Adding further it said, arguably, the biggest civil-engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in recent history.

The overall construction of the 1315-meter-long Chenab Bridge arch stands at Rs 1486 Cr. The bridge is designed to withstand high wind speed up to 266 km/hr and to bear earthquake forces of highest intensity zone-V in India.

After the closure of the Arch, the other activities such as removal of stay cables, filling of concrete arch with self-compacting concrete, erection of trestles, launching of deck over main arch by incremental launching will be undertaken, reads the statement of ministry.

The completion of the arch work was also seen by Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal and Railway Board Chairman and CEO Suneet Sharma along with Northern Railway General Manager Ashutosh Gangal, through video conferencing.