New Delhi: Creating history, Indian Railways has successfully tested the world’s first cable bridge. With this successful test, Indian Railways has also set a unique record. The load test of the country’s first only stay bridge built on the Anji section of Jammu and Kashmir was conducted. This achievement is a major step towards increasing railway connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir, which is expected to be operational in January 2025.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav shared a video of the trial run on social media platform X, highlighting the progress of this important project.
According to the Railway Ministry, “The trial run on Anji Khad Bridge, a key component of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project, has been successfully completed.”
The Anji Khad Bridge, completed last month, is a marvel of engineering, with a single support tower structure rising 331 meters above the river bed. It is supported by 48 cables on its lateral and central spans and is 473.25 meters in total length. This long bridge is 120 meters long, while the central embankment spans 94.25 meters.
It is the second highest railway bridge in India after the Chenab Bridge, which is the highest bridge in the world at 359 meters above the river level. Both the bridges are part of the ambitious USBRL project aimed at enhancing connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir. The USBRL project extends over 272 km, of which 255 km has already been completed.
What is the speciality?
- The remaining section between Katra and Reasi is expected to be completed by the end of this month. The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) is a 272 km long railway project connecting Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India.
- It is considered one of the most challenging railway projects of the Indian subcontinent. With this project, the travel time between Srinagar and Jammu will reduce from six hours to 3.5 hours.
- Railway projects have been constructed after overcoming natural challenges such as extreme temperatures, large earthquake zones and difficult terrain.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the Vande Bharat train, which will provide faster connectivity for passengers traveling between Kashmir and Delhi, in January 2025.
This bridge is very strong
The strength of this bridge was tested by loading 32 rake goods trains and 57 dumpers at one time. The length of the bridge is 473.25 meters and width is 15 meters. There is a 193 meter high single pylon in the center of the bridge. The country’s first single stay bridge built on Anji Khad between Katra and Reasi station on the important Katra-Banihal railway section was successfully loaded tested today.
According to the information received from the Railways, several successful trials have already been conducted for running the engine and goods train from Sangaldan to Reasi station. Whereas on December 25, the trial of running an engine and then a loaded goods train was conducted for the first time on the Katra-Reasi railway section. In which first the engine from Katra reached Reasi station at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour and then returned back to Katra at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour.
Today after that, to check the pressure capacity of the track of this railway section, a loaded 32 rake goods train reached Reasi station from Katra. In which pebbles and gravel are loaded. Its total weight is around 3300 tonnes. Two engines and two special brake coaches are also attached to the goods train. Even on the second day, the goods train was kept standing at Reasi station.
On December 27, to test the load of the country’s first single stay bridge built on Anji Khad, a goods train started from Reasi station and was stopped on the cable stay bridge. A queue of dumpers started reaching the 15 feet wide space on the side of the railway line. One by one, 57 dumpers were also parked on the bridge. The weight of each dumper was nine tonnes. Some goods were loaded in some dumpers to make the weight of each dumper uniform.
The eyes of engineers and experts remained focused on examining the bridge and cables. After completing the first phase of load test, the goods train returned back to Reasi. Railways has said that a similar load test will be conducted again in the second phase on Saturday.
The construction of Anji Bridge started in 2008. Seeing the difficulties in the construction, the construction company had left the work midway in 2012 and returned. In view of the complex geographical structure, the design of the arch was canceled and the idea of building a cable-stayed bridge was considered.
The designer of foreign construction company MS Italfer suggested building only a stay bridge over Anji Khad. In 2015, the Sreedharan Committee visited the site and took stock of it and then only after their suggestion, the decision was taken to construct a new cable stay bridge. In 2017, the construction work of cable stay bridge on Anji Khad started. The responsibility of which was given to Hindustan Construction Company.