Guwahati: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NF Railway) has completed the construction of the tallest pier of the Bairabi-Sairang new railway line project that will connect Mizoram with the rest of the country. The height of pier P-4 of bridge number 196 of the project is 104 meters, which is 42 meters taller than the iconic Qutub Minar in New Delhi.


The pier, which is at the approach of the Sairang station, is a hollow pier of 12 metre external diameter and wall thickness varying from 50-75 cm.


Due to topographical constraint, the pier is located at the centre of a river stream. To overcome the challenge of contructing the foundation of this pier within the running stream, officials diverted the stream by deploying extra piling machines.



Due to topographical constraints, the pier is located at the centre of a river stream (NF Railway)


The pier is designed in such a unique way that the pile cap is provided with four openings of 4.5 meters x 8.5 meters to allow the water to pass through it.    


Other challenges faced while executing the project was a small window to get the work done due to heavy and prolonged monsoon periods, tough and hilly terrains, deep forests, poor accessibility, non-availability of construction materials and lack of skilled labours in Mizoram.


With the completion of the project, tourism and socio-economic development of the hill state and the region as a whole will get a much needed boost.


Once operational, the project will prove to be important in connecting Mizoram with the nations' vast rail network.


People of the region will also get long distance access across the country and uninterrupted supply of essential goods at low costs.


Moreover, the world's tallest pier railway bridge that is being constructed in Manipur as part of the Jiribam-Imphal project is also nearing its completion. The railway bridge will have a height of 141 meters upon completion.


Work on the Jiribam-Imphal railway project, one of the crucial connectivity projects for the Northeastern region, is also going on in full swing to connect Manipur's capital city Imphal with the rest of the country. The Rs 14,322 crore project is already 93.30 per cent complete, officials said.


The Jiribam-Imphal railway project involves multiple tunnels and bridges in tough terrains, stretching over 111 kilometres in length.  The total length of the tunnels in this project will be 61.32 kilometre, out of which 59.11 km tunneling work has already been completed.