The world's tallest steel arch bridge, located in the Reasi area of Jammu & Kashmir, India, will see its inaugural train operation this Independence Day, i.e. August 15. This train service is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project, and it runs between Sangaldan and Reasi. On June 20, the train conducted a trial run across this bridge. Prior to this, on June 16, an electric engine trial was conducted on the bridge.
The Bridge stands at 359 meters which 29 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The 1.3 km long bridge can withstand up to 40 kg of explosives and an earthquake of upto 8 magnitude on the Richter scale. The bridege used about 25,000 metric tonnes of steel, with the main arc of the bridge spanning 485 meters. The bridge stands on 17 pillars. It is at an aerial distance of about 65 km from the Pakistan Border. It is situated about 64 kms from the Line of Control (LoC) and about 900 km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
With the opening of this bridge, the Kashmir valley will be connected to other parts of India through trains in all seasons. The USBRL project was started in 1997 under which 272 km of railway line was to be laid. So far, 209 km of line has been laid in different phases. By the end of this year, the last 17 km line connecting Reasi to Katra is expected to be laid, after which passengers will be able to travel from Reasi in Jammu to Baramulla in Kashmir.
The bridege used about 25,000 metric tonnes of steel, with the main arc of the bridge spanning 485 meters. The bridge stands on 17 pillars and is built withstand nearly 40 kgs of explosives.
The Significance of the bridge:
Even after 76 years of independence, the Kashmir Valley was cut off from other parts of the country during the snowfall season. Till 22 February 2024, Kashmir Valley could only be reached through National Highway 44. This route to Kashmir Valley also used to be closed during snowfall. Apart from this, the train to Kashmir only went to Jammu Tawi, from where people had to travel about 350 km by road. It used to take 8 to 10 hours for people to reach the valley from Jammu Tawi through this route passing through Jawahar Tunnel.
In 2003, the Indian government built the Chenab Bridge to connect the Kashmir valley with other parts of the country during all seasons. The government also approved the Chenab Bridge project in the same year. This bridge was expected to be completed by 2009, but it could not be achieved.
Now, after about 2 decades, this bridge built on the Chenab river is ready. This bridge is expected to last for the next 120 years.
The Indian government has started the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway link project at a cost of Rs 35,000 crore to reach the Kashmir valley in all seasons. This bridge has been built under this scheme. The central government started building this bridge on the Chenab river under the ambitious project of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
The world's tallest bridge has been specially designed to protect it from earthquakes, floods, snowfall and explosives. The area of the bridge falls in earthquake zone four, but it has been designed for earthquake zone five, that is, it is very safe in terms of earthquake and will easily withstand an earthquake of magnitude 8 on the Richter scale.