New Delhi: The Commissioner of Railway Safety will hold a two-day safety check of the newly constructed Pamban Rail Bridge before starting rail operations through the stretch.
Confirming the safety check scheduled to be held from November 13 to 14, a senior Southern Railway official told ETV Bharat after the Commissioner of Railway Safety checking and safety clearance, the report will be sent to the Railway Board for approval to commence it for rail traffic.
As per a copy of the schedule, which was accessed by ETV Bharat, the inspection of re-construction of Pamban Bridge including the laying of new BG track on the diverted alignment between Mandapam and Pamban station will be inspected on November 13, and the speed trial and demonstration of functioning will be done on November 14.
According to the Railways, the new Pamban Rail Bridge is expected to be commissioned for rail traffic very soon. This bridge, which will be India’s first vertical lift sea bridge, is being built parallel to the existing Pamban Bridge at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.
Reason for construction of new bridge:
The existing 110-year-old bridge has served its codal life and Scherzer span (double bascule) of the bridge has corroded over the years. There is a permanent speed restriction of 10 kmph over the 2 km-long bridge. There was intermittent stoppage of traffic on the bridge over several months for repairing the corroded lift spans.
New Pamban Rail Bridge:
The new bridge is a 2,070-meter (6,790 ft) long vertical lift sea bridge that is being built parallel to the existing bridge at Rameswaram. It will be India's first vertical lift sea bridge.
Features of the new bridge:
It will have 100 spans across the sea, 99 of which will be 18.3 meters and one of which will be 72.5 meters. It will be three meters higher than the existing bridge. It is being constructed for two tracks to accommodate future doubling and super structuring is being provided for a single line.
Research Designs and Standards Organisation:
As per RDSO standard technical requirement and the same was approved by RDSO steel plate girders for approach spans, Open Web Girder for the navigational span and the Tower are being fabricated at this workshop and then transported to the bridge site for assembling and launching.
Benefits of the new bridge:
To facilitate the movement of ships across the railway bridge, navigational span can be lifted up to a height of 17 meters using a fully automated Electro-mechanical system. The air draft, vertical clearance, in the lifted position of the navigational span will be equal to the vertical clearance available in the road bridge which will facilitate the movement of bigger ships seamlessly across the sea.
