India’s first vertical lift bridge over sea faces ‘curve’ test
The movement of lift span to its final fixing point shall be completed by the end of May, as it still has to be carried 370 m more.
Pamban railway bridge
CHENNAI: A sharp curve in the upcoming Pamban railway bridge, India’s first vertical-lift bridge connecting the country’s mainland with Rameswaram island, has become an additional challenge for the Railways besides its mechanical peculiarity and a rough sea.
The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), which is constructing this 2.08-km bridge, is facing a huge challenge in moving a lift span, which is 72.5 metres long, 16 metres wide and weighs 550 tons, from the Rameshwaram-end to 450 metres in the sea to fix it to the bridge.
“We started moving this lift span on March 10 and till date, we have moved the 550 tons lift span 80 m towards the centre of the bridge. The biggest challenge is the 2.65-degree of curved alignment of the bridge. Had it been straight, we would have moved it faster,” said a senior RVNL official.
The movement of lift span to its final fixing point shall be completed by the end of May, as it still has to be carried 370 m more. The RVNL has set a deadline of June 30 to make the bridge operational and officials say that they are trying their best to meet it.
The lift span was designed by a Spanish firm TYPSA, and was manufactured at Sattirakkudi Railway Station, which is 20 km away from the sea coast. “This lift span can be lifted up automatically to 17 m for ships to pass. It will take 5 minutes to go up and the same time to come down. It will be scheduled in such a way that train services wouldn’t be disrupted,” said one of the officials.
Train services between Mandapam in the mainland and Rameswaram island were suspended on December 23, 2022, after the existing bridge (built in 1913) was declared unsafe, and hence, non-operational. “When the Pamban bridge was operational, trains would move slowly on the bridge and reach the town in about 15 minutes,” a SR official said.
At present, all trains terminate at Mandapam and people use the road to reach the pilgrimage town. The bridge was supposed to be completed by December 2021, however, the deadline was extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.