Indian Railways to build country’s first vertical lift Pamban bridge to reconnect Rameswaram with mainland India

The construction of the two-kilometre-long Pamban bridge will cost Rs 250 crore, and will replace the existing 104-year-old bridge that was affected during the 1964 cyclone.

The Indian Railways has come up with a plan to replace the 104-year-old British era Pamban Bridge that connects Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu to mainland India.

Touted to be India’s first vertical-lift bridge, the two-kilometre-long bridge is being planned at a cost of Rs 250 crore, and will be completed in four years. The structure will be made parallel to the existing bridge.

According to a railway official, the bridge will have a 63-meter stretch, which will lift up parallelly allowing ships to pass through. It will comprise 100 spans of 18.3m and one navigational span of 63m, and will be three-meter higher than the existing one.

As per a statement reported by India Today, a railway official said,

The existing bridge, having a total length of 2,058 m, has already served 104 years and needs to be replaced since it is almost non-operational.

Another official said,

While this bridge has the ‘Scherzer’ rolling lift technology in which the bridge opens horizontally to let ships pass through, in the new one, a 63-meter section will lift vertically upwards remaining parallel to the deck. It will be done using sensors at each end.

To let the ships and vessels pass with ease, it will have an air clearance of 22 m. When compared to the existing manual operation and control, the new bridge will be integrated with electromechanical controlled systems on board.

The entire structure of the bridge, including the navigational span, will be built with respect to the government’s 100 percent electrification plan, reports Financial Express.

It is for the first time an effort has been taken to restore the link since the 1964 cyclone, which had wrecked the existing structure.

In addition to this, the national carrier has also planned to construct a 17 km long rail line at a cost of Rs 208 crore from Rameswaram to Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu, the starting point of Ram Setu. With this, it aims to re-establish the rail connectivity and help pilgrims have an easy option to travel.

Earlier this week, the construction of the proposed bridge got approval from the central.

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