New Delhi: The work of the new Pamban Rail Bridge is likely to be completed in September, after which it will be made operational for rail traffic. The construction work is on the final leg, with preparations underway for the launching of the lifting span and various electrical tasks in progress at the towers set up to operate the lifting span, a senior official of Southern Railways told ETV Bharat on Saturday.
Disclosing details of the new bridge, a senior official of Southern Railways told ETV Bharat, “The work of the new Pamban Rail Bridge is expected to finish in September and will be commissioned for rail traffic. The construction work has almost completed. The launching of the lifting span and the various electrical and signalling works are in progress at the towers set up to operate the lifting span that work is likely to be completed in August.”
According to railways, the new Pamban Bridge, which will be the country's first vertical lift sea bridge, is being built parallel to the existing Pamban Bridge at Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu. A load test was recently conducted using duel locomotives on the new Pamban Rail Bridge at Mandapam end in the presence of Anil Kumar Khandelwal, Member Infrastructure, Railway Board, and a review meeting was also conducted by the members on the development of this bridge, a senior official of Southern Railway said.
“The new Pamban Bridge is a 2,070-metre (6,790 ft) long vertical lift sea bridge that is being built parallel to the existing Pamban Bridge at Rameswaram. The new bridge will have 100 spans across the sea, 99 of which will be 18.3 metres and one of which will be 72.5 metres. It will be three metres higher than the existing bridge. Reconstruction of this bridge was sanctioned under supplementary demands for grants 2018-19,” the railway official informed.
According to the railways, the new bridge will have a higher clearance to allow boats to pass underneath, improving sea connectivity and facilitating smoother transportation in the region. “The reasons for constructing a new Bridge at Pamban are the Scherzer span of the existing bridge has corroded over the years and this 110-year-old bridge has served its coral life. Moreover, there is a permanent speed restriction of 10 kmph over the 2 km long bridge,” the Southern Railway official said.
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