New Pamban vertical lift sea bridge ready for commercial operations

PAMBAN: Seeking to dispel the doubts raised by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) about the construction of the Pamban vertical lift sea bridge, officials of the Centre-run Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) and Southern Railway said on Friday that they have “corrected all the deficiencies” that the CRS flagged in his authorisation report issued following an inspection in November.

The officials also exuded confidence that rail traffic on the new bridge, which would replace the 110-year-old iconic cantilever bridge, could commence as soon as the five-member panel constituted by the ministry gives its stamp of approval after a formal inspection. The panel was set up to examine the bridge’s structural integrity after the damning report of the CRS hit the headlines.

“We have rectified the deficiencies pointed out by the CRS and sent a compliance report to Southern Railway, which will decide on operations after reviewing our report,” R Srinivasan, senior deputy general manager of RVNL, told DT Next on the vertical left sea bridge connecting Mandapam to the pilgrim town of Rameswaram.

Srinivasan added that an executive director of the Research Design and Standards Organisation (RDSO), along with SR officials, inspected the structure a few days ago after the deficiencies pointed out by the CRS were rectified and concluded that all protocols have been adhered to. Teams from IIT-Madras and Bombay have also expressed satisfaction over the quality of the bridge.

SR and RVNL officials jointly conducted a demo of the working of the bridge in the presence of a team of media persons from Chennai by lifting and lowering the vertical span in 3.5 minutes each.

Asked about the CRS’s remarks on the violation of welding protocols during the bridge construction, the RVNL senior DGM said that the welding of the structure was diagnosed using the latest phased array ultrasonic testing method by the Welding Research Institute attached to the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Tiruchy.

On the design code oversight highlighted by the CRS, Srinivasan said, “RDSO doesn’t have the expertise to construct such a bridge that is first-of-its-kind in India. Similar bridges have been constructed in Spain. So, we engaged an expert foreign design consultant, who prepared it as per the European code, which is far better than the Indian code. Southern Railway was involved at every stage. There was no deviation whatsoever in designing the bridge.”

On the CRS’s observation that parts of the bridge have already been affected by corrosion, he said a special polysiloxane paint was used to coat the structure to withstand the corrosion, and added that the corrosion CRS observed was only on the outer paint surface beneath which two layers of the corrosion resistant paint was available.

Asked about the central span of the old cantilever bridge, other officials told DT Next on condition of anonymity that they had considered lifting the central span and tying it with steel ropes, but it would be exposed to corrosion and pose a safety threat. Besides, the presence of the central lift of the old bridge would not help realise the full efficacy of the new vertical lip sea bridge. Hence, they would most likely dismantle the old bridge, a final decision on which would be taken within a month, officials said.

BRIDGE MARVEL:

-- Madurai Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Sharad Srivastava inspected the bridge and tracks on December 25 to clear it for commercial operations

-- The new vertical lift railway sea bridge is 2.07 km long

-- It consists of 99 spans, each measuring 18.3 metres, with a single 72.5 metres vertical lift plan for Maritime navigation

-- Standing 3 metres taller than the old bridge, the new Pamban bridge offers better clearance for large vessels to pass through

-- The navigation section of the vertical lift can be elevated up to 17 metres