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The Anji Khad bridge is a cable-stayed bridge in the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla-Rail-Link (USBRL) in the Jammu Division of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is widely regarded as an engineering marvel because of its height, the steepness of the sides of the gorge it spans, and its striking design, consisting of an asymmetrical arrangement of cables anchored to a single massive pylon.
The bridge lies south of the Chenab Bridge, near Reasi, where the railway line crosses the deep chasm ('Khad' in Hindi) of the Anji River. It is India's first cable-stayed railway bridge. It has been built by Hindustan Construction Company.
History
Arch Bridge design proposal: rejected
The Anji Khad bridge was initially proposed to be an arch bridge. It was designed as a long steel arches span bridge. Its total length was to be 473 m (1,552 ft), with a main arch span of 265 m (869 ft), and a deck height of 189 m (620 ft). Quality aspects, construction standards, indigenous materials, and the painting scheme were proposed to be similar to the Chenab Bridge. Later, a committee headed by a former railway board chairman recommended that the location was not suitable for an arch bridge. In particular, the unstable geology of the Himalayan mountains combined with the steepness of the sides of the gorge made an arch bridge impractical.[2]
Cable-stayed bridge design proposal: accepted
In October 2016, Indian Railways decided to build a cable-stayed bridge at Anji Khad, [3] with a striking asymmetrical design supported by 96 cables anchored to a single pylon on the Reasi side, of height 193 m from its foundation. [4] The initial cost of the project was set at ₹458 crore. As per the design, the bridge connects tunnels T34 and T35 on the Katra and Reasi sides respectively. It has a 290 meter main span at a height of 331 m above the riverbed.[5] The main section has a length 473.25 meters out of a total length of over 1,300 meters, with a 120 meter long viaduct.
Status updates
- January 2017: [ITALFER] to construct cable-stayed Anji Khad Bridge. The work is planned to be completed in 36 months.[6]
- March 2021: The construction of the single pylon to which the cables will be anchored is completed.[7]
- April 2023: All 96 cables have been attached, and the bridge stands nearly completed with associated track laying and fine tuning work to be completed in the following few months.[8]
- August 2023: A trial run was successfully completed.[9]
- December 2024: In anticipation of the commissioning of the railway line in early 2025, load testing of the bridge was performed, by moving a heavily loaded goods train onto the bridge, along with heavily loaded trucks onto the parallel service roadway on the bridge.
- January 2025: Speed trials up to 110 kmph were carried out on the bridge on Jan. 8, 2025.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Kashmir link project to have first cable-stayed rail bridge". 11 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
- ^ Raj, Ashutosh (29 April 2023). "Anji Khad Bridge: Check construction progress, initial design and other details of the bridge". News9live. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
- ^ "India's first mega cable-stayed railway bridge to link Katra and Banihal | Greater Kashmir".
- ^ "Anji Khad bridge: Construction work underway for India's first cable-stayed bridge, See latest pictures". Financial Express.
- ^ "Kashmir link project to have first cable-stayed rail bridge". 11 October 2016.
- ^ "HCC Bags Rs 369-cr Project From IRCON International In J–K". Moneycontrol.
- ^ Pylon completed. YouTube.
- ^ "India's first cable stayed rail bridge nearing completion in Jammu and Kashmir after 20 year delay". The Hindu.
- ^ Jain, Smriti (14 December 2023). "Indian Railways' USBRL project in J&K with Chenab bridge, Anji Khad bridge to open soon". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 May 2024.
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