India Is Building The World's Highest Railway Bridge
Indian engineers are toiling in the Himalayas to
build the world's highest railway bridge which is expected to be 35 metres
taller than the Eiffel Tower when completed by 2016.
The arch-shaped steel structure is being
constructed over the Chenab River to link sections of the spectacular
mountainous region of India's northern Jammu and Kashmir state.
The bridge is expected to be 359 metres (1,177
feet) high when completed -- surpassing the world's current tallest railway
bridge over the Beipanjiang River in China's Guizhou province, which stands at
275 metres high.
"It is an engineering marvel. We hope to
get this bridge ready by December 2016," a senior Indian Railways official
told AFP.
"The design would ensure that it withstands
seismic activities and high wind speeds," he said Wednesday.
Work on the bridge started in 2002 but safety and feasibility concerns,
including the area's strong winds, saw the project halted in 2008 before being
green-lighted again two years later.
The estimated cost of the project, which is
being handled by Konkan Railway Corporation, a subsidiary of state-owned Indian
Railways, is $92 million.
The bridge will connect Baramulla to Jammu in
the Himalayan state with a travel time of six-and-a-half hours, almost half the
time it currently takes.
The main arch is being erected using two cable
cranes attached on either side of the river which are secured on enormous steel
pylons, according to engineers of the project.
The 1,315-meter long bridge will use up to
25,000 tonnes of steel with some material being transported by helicopters due
to the tough terrain, they said.
"One of the biggest challenges involved was
constructing the bridge without obstructing the flow of the river," the
railways official said.
"Approach roads had to be constructed to
reach the foundations of the bridge," he added.
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