[ Indu Chukhu ]
RAMESWARAM/ITANA-GAR, 8 Feb: The Pamban railway bridge, located in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu, is the first in Asia to be engineered with a vertical-lift bridge.
A vertical-lift bridge or a lift bridge is a type of moveable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. This vertical lift bridge is designed by a Spain-based company called Typsa. The vertical feature has a total length of 72. 5 metres, informed Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL) Senior Deputy General Manager Srinivasan. The RVNL is a public sector enterprise that builds and maintains rail infrastructure. Notably, India is the second and the only country after Germany to have such a bridge. “The maximum lift of the vertical lift span is 17 metres, and the height of the towers is 34 metres,” Srinivasan said.
This reporter was on a tour of the Pamban railway bridge. The tour was initiated and coordinated by the Southern Railway and the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR).
Pamban is about 658 kms from Chennai, and connects mainland Mandapam with Rameshwaram island.
In order to operate the vertical-lift bridge to allow movement of ships of fishermen, the Tamil Nadu Maritime Board has to seek permission from the Railways to lift the vertical lift girder. Once the Railways authorities give permission, a siren is blown, giving the cue to lift the verticals. The permission is given to lift depending on the movements of train at any given point.
It takes 5 minutes and 30 seconds to lift the girder, and another 5 minutes and 30 seconds to place it down, so that the vertical-lift bridge aligns with the railway track.
The old Pamban bridge was disconnected permanently in December 2022 due to the weakening of its bascule section, caused by corrosion.
The Pamban bridge was constructed in 1914. During the gauge conversion, the Pamban bridge was strengthened for broad gauge standard, and was opened for gauge traffic on 12 August, 2007, according to a statement from the Southern Railway. Later the railways ministry sanctioned reconstruction of the Pamban railway bridge during February 2019.
The Southern Railway authorities informed that the sub-structure of the bridge is built to cater to future double lines with electrification. Additionally, the lifting operation of the old bridge was manual, whereas the new bridge will be operated by an electro-mechanical system, which will be interlocked with train control systems for the operation of navigational span.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the bridge construction work was halted for three years, and it was only in November 2024 that the 2.10 kms long bridge was completed. The bridge was sanctioned in February 2019.
The bridge is expected to be inaugurated in February this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as per the authorities of the RVNL.
The bridge cost Rs 531 crores, and the average depth of the pile below the seabed is 38 metres. The first trial of the bridge was conducted on 14 November, 2024.
Speaking to this journalist, NFR Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that “the Pamban bridge is a technological marvel, which is a testament to the technical prowess of the Indian Railways engineers and yet another important step in the journey of the Indian Railways to develop world-class infrastructure commensurate with the vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ by 2047.”
He said that although the bridge won’t directly connect from Guwahati (Northeast) to the extreme south of the Pamban bridge in Rameswaram, it will enable people from the region also to travel to Rameswaram by means of rail.
When asked if the NFR can also come up with such engineering technologies, the CPRO informed that “the Railways is constructing some of India’s tallest bridges and longest ballast-less tunnels in Manipur and Mizoram.”
He said that “the latest AI-based technologies are being used for safeguarding elephants crossing railway tracks through the intrusion detection system, monitoring of infrastructural safety of tracks, wagons and signals, and ensuring passenger convenience, such as the automatic water level monitoring system installed on board of the Brahmaputra Mail train.”
One can visit Rameswaram island (Pamban island) and visit Dhanushkodi beach point, Arulmigu Ramanatha Swamy temple, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam National Memorial, and other tourist sites.
The trip to Rameswaram was coordinated by officials from the NFR PR cell, and was joined by journalists from West Bengal, Odisha, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim.
