Tallest rail bridge over Chenab river clears safety test

Work has resumed on the construction of the world's tallest railway bridge over Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district after its alignment was found safe by a team of IIT-Delhi.

The Chenab rail bridge, slated to be 35m taller than the 324m tall Eiffel Tower in Paris, is a crucial link in the 125km Katra-Banihal rail link.

"The IIT-Delhi team headed by professor KS Rao carried out the safety tests of the proposed 359m tall bridge. It found the bridge construction fulfils all safety parameters," a senior railway ministry official said.

The construction of the bridge was halted in July 2008 after concerns were raised over its safety and alignment. Railways had constituted a seven-member expert committee headed by former chairman, railway board, M Ravindran to examine the issue.

Professors from IIT Mumbai, Panjab University and an Austrian consultant were part of the expert committee which examined the issue threadbare.

Though the expert committee found the proposed alignment of the 1,315m-long Chenab bridge fully safe, it suggested more conformity tests to be carried out by an independent agency keeping in view the topography of the area.

"Tests were conducted for safety aspects of the high structure and the alignment by the IIT-D team. Results are very satisfactory," said the official.

While two designers from the US and Finland, part of a global designing consultancy firm WSP, are involved in designing the tallest rail bridge, a UK-based proof consultant is involved in re-checking the final design as fool-proof measure.

The construction of the Rs 550 crore bridge is expected to be completed by 2016.