The historic Chenab rail bridge, the world's highest and longest steel arch railway bridge, is all set to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6. It would be PM Modi's first visit to Jammu and Kashmir post Operation Sindoor.
Marking a milestone in the Jammu and Kashmir's connectivity, a key part of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway link (USBRL) built over the Chenab River in Reasi district will be dedicated to the public by the prime minister.
The railway bridge, designed by WSP--a Canadian-based engineering firm--has a total length of 1315 metres. According to WSP, the free span length of the bridge is 467 m measured from the surface of the river below and the height of the bridge deck is 350m.
The bridge was constructed with 27,000 tonnes of steel.
Importance of the bridge
The Chenab railway bridge is a key part of the USBRL project. It achieves significance as the bridge brings Delhi closer to Kashmir offering better connectivity.
The work on the railway project to link Kashmir started in 1997 and had missed several deadlines due to many challenges including geographical and topographical ones. The project was completed at a cost of over Rs 41,000 crore.
Out of the total 272 km USBRL project, 209 km was commissioned in phases. The first phase of the 118 km Qazigund-Baramulla section was commissioned in October 2009, while the second phase of 18 km Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013, the third phase of 25 km Udhampur-Katra in July 2014, and the fourth phase of 48.1 km long Banihal-Sangaldan stretch in February last year.
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Meanwhile, in June last year, the work of the 46-km Sangaldan-Reasi stretch was completed. The left-out section in between--a 17 km stretch from Reasi-Katra--was finally completed in December last year.
According to officials, a 119 km stretch runs through tunnels and has been equipped with full CCTV surveillance.
The railway project attains significance as it comes following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, which killed 26 people, mostly tourists. With the new railway project launch, Kashmir is eager to improve the tourism hit in the region.
The inauguration of the Chenab bridge would be followed by the opening of the Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat train. PM Modi will flag off the Vande Bharat train from Katra to north Kashmir's Baramulla and another from Baramulla to Katra.
According to an official, the longest tunnel T-50, stretches over 12.77 km making it the longest railway tunnel in the country. There would be a total of 25 main tunnels covering a length of 97.42 km, and eight escape tunnels, spanning 66.4 km, resulting in a cumulative length of 163.82 km, he added.
The Chenab bridge, taller than Eiffel Tower, is constructed in such a way that it can withstand wind speeds over 250 mph and is designed to resist earthquakes.