The world’s highest single-arch railway bridge - the Chenab Bridge - witnessed the completion of its steel arch last year. What’s more, the overarch deck was also recently completed.

The overarch deck launching of the Chenab Railway Bridge was recently completed with a golden joint– truly a global milestone for India at the world’s highest railway bridge.

So, what’s this achievement all about? Ninety-eight deck segments, each weighing about 85tonne, have been simultaneously launched from both ends of the valley over the mighty steel arch. Both ends finally met to complete the bridge overarch deck.The segments have been joined with the help of high strength friction grip (HSFG) bolts to mark the golden joint. This not only completes the bridge over the Chenab River valley, but creates a new chapter in the history of Jammu & Kashmir.

“Afcons has been doing technologically complex projectsright from the early days,” says S Paramasivan, Managing Director, Afcons. “I must say Chenab Bridge will be on the top of the list, for the simple reason that this is a once-in-a-generation project. With all humility, I can say that India has not seen such a project so far...”

Giridhar Rajagopalan, Deputy Managing Director, Afcons, adds, “The overarch deck completion, 359m above the Chenab riverbed, will be an extraordinary achievement. I have my highest respect for every engineer and worker who has contributed to this engineering achievement. This golden joint will usher in a golden moment in the history of Indian Railways and will become a golden chapter in the history of Jammu &Kashmir. The construction engineering was completely done by Indian engineers, which makes the Chenab Railway Bridge a symbol of Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

Indeed, the Chenab Railway Bridge is a construction mammoth. Around 30,350 mt of steel has been used in the 1,315-m bridge construction; 10,620 mtof steel has been consumed in the construction of the gigantic arch; and 14,504 mt of steel has gone into the construction of the bridge deck. The bridge, on the upstream of Salal Dam, is situated near Kauri village in the Reasi district of Jammu &Kashmir. Constructed by Mumbai-based infrastructure major Afcons, the execution plan has taken into consideration safety, quality and productivity as the driving parameters.

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