Jammu: In a historic moment, the Indian railways has connected the two ends of the main arch of the world's highest bridge on the Chenab river in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir which will provide direct connectivity to Kashmir Valley.
This arch is being lauded as an important feat in terms of its engineering while the bridge built on this arch is said to be capable of withstanding any terrorist attack.
The work on the arch bottom has been completed to construct the world's highest railway bridge in the Kodi district of Reasi, about 120 km from Jammu, for the ambitious project that will connect the Kashmir Valley by rail. The bridge that will pass over this arch shaped like a half-moon will soar 359 metres above the bed of the river, which is 35 meters higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
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This arch, which is connected through two lakh bolts, is considered no short of an engineering miracle. Deputy Chief Engineer of Konkan Railway RR Malik, who is playing an important role in building this bridge, has termed the project as a major challenge which felt like a miracle after having completed.
According to the Konkan Railways, the length of the arch is 309 meters with a foundation as wide as half of a football ground. Konkan Railways also stated that that there is a lot of movement in the mountains on which this bridge is built and to ensure that it does not cause any damage to this bridge, IITs were consulted with many expert engineers contributing to the project.
The Chenab bridge is said to have the ability to withstand earthquakes of magnitude as high as 8 on the Richter scale.
The work on this project began in 2013. The bridge is being constructed at a cost of Rs 1330 crore. In terms of height, it is 359 meters high.
After the construction of this bridge, the rail network will connect Katra to Reasi, Reasi to Salal, Salal to Dugga, Dugga to Bashinder and Bashinder to Sangaldan.
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The Reasi district, located in the remote hilly areas of Jammu, has also been a target of terrorists. In such a situation, this bridge has been constructed in a way that makes it capable of dealing with natural disasters and it is also made blastproof and fireproof giving it the ability to withstand any explosion.
For the common people of Reasi district who have suffered the menace of terrorist activities, this bridge is no less than a boon. The construction of this bridge has not only increased the business activities in this area but for the people here, it is creating many opportunities in terms of employment.
The Konkan Railway has estimated that after the construction of this arch bottom of Chenab Bridge, the arch upper of the engineering marvel will be ready by March next year.