India's first cable-stayed railway bridge completed in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi

Srinagar, May 01: The Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir has just completed India's first cable-stayed railway bridge, marking a significant milestone for the Udampur-Srinagar-Baramulla railway project. The bridge spans 725 meters and has 96 cables, with a total length of cable strands of 653 km.

It connects the T2 tunnel on the Katra side and the T3 tunnel on the Reasi side, with a single-line railway track and a 3.75-meter wide service road.

The asymmetrical cable-stayed bridge is balanced on the axis of a central pylon that stands at a height of 331 meters above the riverbed, with a height of 193 meters from the top of the foundation. The bridge's construction took 11 months, which is considered an engineering marvel, given the challenging terrain and weather conditions in the area.

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Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared a time-lapse video of the bridge's construction, drawing appreciation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The chief public relations officer of the Northern Railways, Deepak Kumar, announced that "History was created on Wednesday when India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge came up over Anji Khad in Reasi."

The completion of the bridge marks a crucial step towards connecting the Kashmir valley to the rest of the railway network. The bridge is part of the Udampur-Srinagar-Baramulla (USBRL) railway project, and it was specifically designed with 15.7 mm diameter strands with three layers of protection, zinc-coated, wax-filled plus PU/HDPE cover over the strands.

The cable's length ranges from a minimum of 80 meters up to 295 meters as a maximum, composed of 31, 37 or 43 strands. The bridge's total length includes a 473 meters long asymmetric cable-stayed bridge balanced on the axis of a central pylon of height 193 meters from the top of the foundation. The bridge has 290 meters span on the north side (Katra Side) and 183 meters span on the south side (Reasi side).

As of now, 44 segments out of a total of 47 segments have been launched, which required the support of stay cables. Launching of the superstructure shall be completed in May. The completion of the bridge is a significant milestone, bringing the Kashmir valley closer to the rest of the railway network.

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