J&K: World’s highest rail bridge to come up across Chenab

Arguably one of the toughest engineering challenges in hand, Railways plans to complete the Chenab bridge in Jammu and Kashmir by 2016, making it the world’s highest rail bridge. The arch-shaped bridge across Chenab river-bed in Reasi district, which will be five times the height of Qutab Minar at 359 m above river bed, will connect Baramulla and Srinagar to Jammu via Udhampur-Katra-Qazigund covering the entire route in about seven hours.
The ambitious project, which fell victim to various issues such as its alignment, feasibility and also security concerns, is finally beginning to take shape with the construction of pillars on either side. “We plan to complete it by December 2016, a year before the entire Udhampur-Baramulla stretch is commissioned,” CAO of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project, B D Garg said.
The 1,315-m-long engineering marvel would boast of several unique features. The design would ensure that it withstands blast and seismic activities, while the signalling arrangements would ensure the train does not encounter high wind velocity at that height.