India building highest railway bridge

Indian engineers are toiling in the Himalayas to build the world's highest railway bridge, which is expected to be 35 meters taller than Paris' Eiffel Tower when completed by 2016.

The arch-shaped steel structure is being constructed over the Chenab River to link sections of the spectacular mountainous region of India-controlled Kashmir.

The bridge is expected to be 359 meters high when completed - surpassing the world's current tallest railway bridge over the Beipanjiang River in China's Guizhou province, which stands 275 meters high.

"It is an engineering marvel. We hope to get this bridge ready by December 2016," a senior Indian Railways official told AFP.

"The design would ensure that it withstands seismic activities and high wind speeds," he said on Wednesday.

Work on the bridge started in 2002, but safety and feasibility concerns, including the area's strong winds, saw the project being halted in 2008 before being green-lighted again two years later.

The estimated cost of the project, which is being handled by Konkan Railway Corp, a subsidiary of state-owned Indian Railways, is $92 million.

The new railway will have a travel time of six-and-a-half hours, almost half the time it currently takes to travel from Jammu to Baramulla.

The main arch is being erected using two cable cranes attached on either side of the river that are secured on enormous steel pylons, according to engineers of the project.

The 1,315-meter-long bridge will use up to 25,000 metric tons of steel with some material being transported by helicopters due to the tough terrain.

"One of the biggest challenges involved was constructing the bridge without obstructing the flow of the river," the senior railways official said.

"Approach roads had to be constructed to reach the foundations of the bridge," he added.

(China Daily 07/12/2014 page7)