PIB
NEW DELHI, April 05 2021: The Prime Minister has lauded the completion of Arch closure of the Chenab Bridge, wrld's highest Railway Bridge in Jammu & Kashmir by Indian Railways.
In a tweet Modi said that capability and trust of the countrymen is setting an example before the world. This feat of construction does not only showcase growing prowess of India in the field of modern engineering and technology but also is an example of changing work culture marked by the ethos of ‘sankalp se siddhi’.
Salient Features of the Arch of the iconic Chenab Bridge:
Indian Railways is constructing the iconic Arch Bridge on River Chenab as a part of the USBRL project to connect the Kashmir valley to the rest of the nation.
This bridge is 1315m long.
This is the highest Railway Bridge in the world being 359m above the river bed level.
It will be 35 meters higher than the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris (France).
Construction of Bridge involved fabrication of 28,660 MT steel, 10 Lakh Cum Earthwork, 66,000 Cum Concrete and 26 Km motorable roads.
Arch consists of steel boxes. Concrete will be filled in boxes of the Arch to improve stability.
Overall weight of Arch is 10,619 MT.
Erection of the members of arch by overhead cable cranes done for first time on Indian Railways.
The most sophisticated ‘Tekla’ software used for structural detailing.
Structural steel suitable for -10°C to 40°C temperature.
Certain features are tabulated below:
1. Client: Northern Railway
2. Executing Agency: M/s Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd.
3. Cost of Bridge: 1486 Cr.
4. Contractor: M/s Chenab Bridge Project Undertaking [Ultra-AFCONS-VSL(JV)]
5. Total length of bridge: 1.315km
6. Number of spans: 17 nos.
7. Length of Main arch span: 467m (linear); 550m (curvilinear)
8. Design life of the bridge: 120 years
9. Design speed: 100 kmph
10. Total Steel Fabrication: 28660 MT (approx)
11. Design wind speed: 266 kmph
12. Designers:
A. Viaduct & Foundations: M/s WSP (Finland)
B. Arch: M/s Leonhart, Andra and Partners (Germany)
C. Foundation Protection: Indian Institute of Science Bangalore
13. Proof Consultant:
A. Foundation & Foundation Protection: M/s URS, UK
B. Superstructure of Viaduct & Arch: M/s COWI, UK
14. Slope Stability Analysis: (Independent Consultant) M/s ITASCA, USA
15. Slope Stability Analysis: Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
16. Seismic Analysis: Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi & Roorkee
Unique Features of This Bridge:
Bridge designed to withstand high wind speed up to 266 Km/Hour.
Bridge designed for blast load in consultation with DRDO for the first time in India.
Bridge will remain operational at restricted speed of 30 Km/Hour even after removal of one pier/trestle.
Bridge designed to bear earthquake forces of highest intensity zone-V in India.
First time on Indian Railways, Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing machine used for testing of welds.
First time on Indian Railways, NABL accredited lab established at site for weld testing.
Approx. 584Km welding done to join the different parts of structure, which is to the tune of distance between Jammu Tawi to New Delhi.
Height of cable crane’s pylon at Srinagar End is 127m, which is much taller than Qutub Minar of 72m.
Launching of curved viaduct portion done for first time on Indian Railways using End Launching Method.
Extensive health monitoring and warning systems planned through state of art instrumentation.
Details about ceremony of Arch Closure:
Before closure and during launching, arch is being supported by stay cables.
Closure includes the erection of last 8 segments (4 no. upstream and 4 no. downstream) of Arch.
The process of arch closure started on 20 February, 2021. Before ceremony for closure of arch, 07 segments were erected in advance.
At the time of closure of arch, segment no. WT28 was erected. This segment is at kauri end (west end) of the crown.
Name: WT28 (upstream side top chord segment)
Size: 5.6 m x 4.0 m x 0.98 m (L x B x H ); Weight =18.95 MT
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.