India’s PM Narendra Modi inaugurated the world’s tallest railway bridge on the Chenab River and the country’s first cable-station Anji Bridge. The PM also flagged off the Vande Bharat Express for the first time on this bridge. The bridge is built on the Chenab River in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir and is part of the railway link between Udhampur-Srinagar. Let’s know some special things about this bridge …
This bridge is much higher than Eiffel Tower
Chenab Bridge is a steel and concrete bridge, which connects Bakkal and Kauri villages in Reasi district. This bridge is built on top of the river Chinav and its specialty is 359 meters (about 1,178 ft) above the bottom of the river. That is, it is 35 meters higher than the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris and about 5 times higher than the Qutub Minar in Delhi. Its total length is 1315 meters or about 4314 feet. This is the reason why it is the highest bridge in the world.
30 thousand metric tonnes of bridge use
Crores have cost crores to build Chenab Bridge. Also, many bolts, steel and concrete have been used in it. According to the information, 28,660 to 30,000 metric tonnes of steel has been used to build this bridge. Along with this, 46,000 cubic meters of concrete has also been used. Also, more than 6 lakh bolts have also been used. The flow of the river has not been damaged in building this bridge, there is no pillar in the river, but it is made with arch technology.
How much cost this bridge was prepared
Talking about the cost of this bridge, Rs 1486 crore (about 180 million) has been used to prepare it. In 2003, the government of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee gave approval to build this bridge. The work started in 2004 itself, but due to many challenges, it continued to be delayed. The base work was completed in 2017, and the construction of the main arch in April 2021 was completed. The bridge was fully prepared by August 2022.
Bomb and earthquake will not affect
The Chenab Bridge is designed to bear the strong winds of 266 km per hour, 8 magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale and an explosion equal to 40 tons of TNT. Its estimated age is 120–125 years, in which special paint has been used, which will protect it from war for 20 years.
Travel will be completed in 3 hours
This bridge is built on the Chenab River in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, which connects Sangaldan and Reasi railway stations. It is part of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL). This bridge will connect Kashmir Valley to Delhi and other cities of the country. With this, the journey from Katra to Srinagar will be completed by Vande Bharat train in just 3 hours.