Srinagar. Indian Railways is building the world’s highest bridge over the Chenab river in Jammu and Kashmir. This bridge, known as Chenab Bridge, will be operational for rail traffic by December this year. This bridge is about 35 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris and its length is about 1.3 kilometers.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has shared the picture of this bridge with his Twitter handle. He wrote in the caption of this picture, ‘The world’s highest arch Chenab bridge over the clouds.’ Looking very beautiful, this picture is looking no less than a painting. It is seen in the picture that this bridge is so high that even clouds are visible several feet below it.
The work of the arch of the world’s highest railway bridge, being built over the Chenab river at a height of about 359 meters above the riverbed, was completed in April last year itself. The total weight of this arch is 10619 metric tons and its parts have been erected by cable crane for the first time by Indian Railways.
The goal of building this bridge is to enhance the connectivity of the Kashmir Valley and it is being constructed under the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project at a cost of Rs.1486 crore. The self-supporting arch is a masterpiece of superb engineering.
This achievement is a big leap in the direction of completing the 111 km long railway line from Katra to Banihal. It is certainly the biggest civil engineering challenge of any rail project in India in recent history. This bridge is 1315 meters long and is being built at a height of 359 meters above the river level, the highest rail bridge in the world. It is 35 meters higher than the historic Eiffel Tower in Paris.