The Chenab Bridge is a railway bridge currently under construction in the Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. The project is being carried out under the auspices of the Northern Railways
It was announced on March 17, 2021 that the bottom ends of the arch were connected and that the bridge is expected to be open by December 2021
Upon completion it will span the entire length of the Chenab River at a height of 359 m (1,178 ft) above the river, making it the world’s highest rail bridge.
This article will give details about the Chenab Bridge within the context of the IAS Exam.
Details about the Chenab Bridge
The Northern Railways undertook the project of constructing a new railway line across Jammu and Kashmir between the towns of Udhampur in Jammu and Baramulla on the northwestern edge of the Kashmir Valley. This project was declared a national project in 2002.
A challenging aspect of this project is building a large number of runners – a total of 63 km – in the rugged and mountainous terrain of the Himalayas.
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Chenab Bridge – UPSC Notes:- Download PDF Here
The specifications of the Chenab Bridge are given in the table below:
Specifications of Chenab Bridge
| Deck height (height above river bed) |
|
| Bridge length: | 1,315 m |
| Arch Span | 467 m (1,532 ft) |
| Arch length: | 480 m (1,570 ft) |
Design of the Chenab Bridge
It was decided that the Chenab Bridge would be designed as a large span single steel arch brdh with approach viaducts on arthur sde
The chords of the trusses are sealed steel boxes, internally stiffened and filled with concrete to assist in controlling wind-induced forces on the bridge. Another advantage of concrete filling is that internal painting will not be required.
The number of bearings has been minimized, particularly on the approach viaduct, through the use of continuous construction. This is advantageous, as it reduces the maintenance and inspection efforts, and improves the riding quality. The viaduct piers are of concrete, while the piers near the arch are steel.
The design of major arch rail bridges requires considerations of a number of additional parameters, such as fatigue, global stability, second order effects, composite action, etc.
Indian construction standards such as the Indian Railway Standards (IRS), the Indian Road Congress (IRC) and the Indian Standards (IS) were found inadequate for the large spans of the Chenab Bridge.
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Following are some of the design considerations taken into account:
- Limit state philosophy of design has been decided to be followed as per BS codes
- Computation of wind load effects as per wind tunnel tests
- Blast resistant design used
- Design checking for fatigue as per BS codes
- Redundancy provided in the structures, for lower level of operation during mishaps and against collapse in extreme cases of one pier failure
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