Indian Railways completes arch closure of world’s highest bridge

On April 05, 2021,Northern Railways completed the construction of the arch closure of the Chenab Bridge, the world’s highest railway bridge. The 1.3-kilometre-longbridge sits at a height of 359 metres above the bed of the Chenab river in the Jammu & Kashmir state.

Railways complete the Arch closure of the iconic Chenab Bridge, World's highest railway bridge.

Look at the video for the main features of USBRL Project & Chenab Bridge. pic.twitter.com/IdiJtNsdtk

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) April 5, 2021

History in making :

N.Rly. today places the upper crown to complete the work of main arch of iconic Chenab Bridge.

Rail Minister Sh. @PiyushGoyal, CEO & Chairman Rly Bd Sh. Suneet Sharma, GMNR Sh. Ashutosh Gangal & other senior officials witnessed the history in making. pic.twitter.com/fQ8ekNQm2B

— Northern Railway (@RailwayNorthern) April 5, 2021

PM Narendra Modi called the moment of the completion of the arch of the Chenab Bridge as an example of ‘Sankalp se Siddhi’. Taking to Twitter, he said, "Capability and trust of the countrymen are setting an example before the world. This feat of construction does not only reflect India's growing prowess in the field of state-of-the-art engineering and technology but also exemplifies the country's changing work culture marked by the ethos of 'Sankalp se Siddhi'.

देश के जन-जन का सामर्थ्य और विश्वास आज दुनिया के सामने एक मिसाल पेश कर रहा है। यह निर्माण कार्य न केवल अत्याधुनिक इंजीनियरिंग और टेक्नोलॉजी के क्षेत्र में भारत की बढ़ती ताकत को प्रदर्शित करता है, बल्कि संकल्प से सिद्धि की देश की बदली हुई कार्य संस्कृति का भी उदाहरण है। https://t.co/Hup2RByHYM

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) April 5, 2021

When the 5.6-metre last piece of closure segment metal was fitted at the highest point of the arch on Monday, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted, “A moment of pride for India!”

The bridge, as a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project (USBRL), will boost the connectivity of the Kashmir valley with the country.

A moment of pride for 🇮🇳! The arch of Chenab bridge, connecting Kashmir to Kanyakumari has been completed.

With an arch span of 467m, it is the world’s highest railway bridge.

PM @NarendraModi ji’s vision to connect India has inspired the Railway family to scale new heights pic.twitter.com/GEDEBIb9nE

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) April 5, 2021

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal along with senior officials watched the lowering of the arch by cable crane through the LIVE video link sitting in Delhi.

"It is a historic day for the Northern Railways and a milestone in the completion of the USBRL project, connecting Kashmir with the rest of the country. The project will be completed within two and a half years," said Ashutosh Gangal, Northern Railway General Manager.

The self-supporting arch is an engineering marvel, he added.

The Ministry is hopeful of completing the further development of the bridge within a year. The entire rail project is expected to be completed within two and half years.

The Chenab Bridge: All you need to know

• The Chenab Bridge located in Jammu & Kashmir is the world’s highest railway bridge.

• The 1.3 kilometres-long bridge sits at a height of 359 metres above the bed of the Chenab river in the Jammu & Kashmir. It is deemed to be 35 metres higher than the Eiffel Tower.

• The weight of the arch of the bridge is 10,619 metres. The Indian Railways had built the members of the arch by overhead cable cranes for the first time in India.

• The arch comprises steel boxes filled with concrete to enhance the stability of the bridge.

• 28,660 metric tonnes of steel, 66,000 cum concrete, 10 lakh cum earthwork, and 26 km motorable roads has gone into the construction of the bridge.

• It will be constructed at a cost of Rs 1,486 crore. The bridge, as a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project (USBRL), will connect Katra-Banihal. The route via road between Katra-Banihal currently is 12-hour long. After the completion of the bridge, the route via train would be halved.

• As per the statement by the Railway ministry, the bridge has been constructed for blast load in consultation with the DRDO for the first time in India. It can withstand high wind speed upto 266km/hr.It can also absorb the earthquake forces of the high-intensity zone-V area in India.

• The structural detailing of the bridge has been done using the ‘Tekla’ software. The structural steel of the bridge is suitable for a temperature ranging from -10 degrees Celsius to 40 degrees Celsius. 

• In another first feat by the Indian Railways, a NABL-accredited lab was constructed, and phased array ultrasonic machines were used at the site of weld testing.