India is building the world’s highest bridge over the Chenab River flowing between the young fold mountains of Jammu and Kashmir.
How the journey started-
Initially the bridges were built with the bamboo sticks or the higher strength wood which were joined then to allow people or cargo easy passage over an obstacle by providing a route that would be over the divided land or the ridge. But the strength was not justified with the climatic changes as per the seasons and high-speed winds the bamboo built or wooden built bridges were not reliable and sustainable.

Thus with the update and the innovation of cement by the Joseph Aspdin its strength was highly determinable and it was working as per the demand of engineers the cemented slabs, supported by the pillars at the ends, and the beams were built to give internal support to the slabs.

But with time various disadvantages were observed such as the weight, material cost, and mobility but introduction to the carbon steels, high strength steels, and heat-treated carbon steels. With this innovation, Indian Railways came up with the mega infrastructure project of constructing the bridge over the Chenab River at an altitude of 359m which is higher than the Eiffel Tower which is 324m. The design was introduced by Viaduct & Foundations: M/s WSP (Finland); Arch: M/s Leonhart, Andhra and Partners (Germany), and Foundation Protection: Indian Institute of Science Bangalore connecting the length of 1315 meters of the Baramulla and Reasi districts of Jammu and Kashmir. The estimated cost of the construction is expected to be 1486 crore rupees.

Specialty of the bridge-
- Is to boost the connectivity between the state and the border area.
- The weight of the bridge is 10619 MT (fabrication of 28,660 MT steel, 10 lakh cum Earthwork, 66,000 cum concrete, and 26 Km motor able roads.)
- The most sophisticated ‘Tekla’ software used for structural detailing.
- It can resist up to magnitude 8 earthquakes.
- It can stand still against the winds moving with speed of up to 266 km/hr.
- The Chenab Bridge is designed for blast load in consultation with DRDO for the first time in India.
- It will remain operational at a restricted speed of 30 Km/hour even after the removal of one pier/trestle.
- In the first, a Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing machine was used for testing welds in an Indian Railways project.
- The height of the cable crane’s pylon at Srinagar End is 127 meter, which is much taller than Qutub Minar of 72 meter.
Design Of the Bridge –
It is in the Arc shape to provide more feasibility to the bridge. As per the mechanics and the study of strength of the material it is found that an arc can carry a much greater load than a horizontal beam can support. These types of bridges were built by Romans thousands of years ago.
“The Road To Success Is Always Under Construction”
Winston Churchill
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