Construction of world's highest bridge begins
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 28 2014 : The NF Railway Construction Organisation has started con-struction of a bridge with height of pillars upto 141metres near Noney in Manipur.

This bridge is slated to become tallest in the world from the point of view of pillar height surpassing the existing tallest of Mala-Rijeka viaduct on Belgrade-Bar railway line in Europe where the height of pillars is 139m.The railway bridge under construction on river Chenab in Jammu-Kashmir line is of arch type which is bridging a gorge of about 360m deep from bed of river to the rail level and is being considered as the highest railway bridge in the world, conveyed a press release issued by Sr PRO/Con, NF Railway.

The proposed bridge in Manipur is part of the 111 Km long Jiribam-Tupul-Im-phal railway line to connect the capital of Manipur with the broad gauge network of the country.

The alignment of the railway line passes through steep rolling hills of Patkai region, eastern trail of the Himalayas.

While Jiribam, a small town of Manipur near Assam �Manipur border, is situated at 37m above mean sea level, the capital city Imphal is situated at 780m above MSL.

The alignment has to traverse through not only a number of deep gorges but over several rivers flowing at low ground levels.

Perspective view of the bridge

As a result it has necessitated to construct 46 nos.of tunnels measuring total 54.5 Km in length and tall bridges in order to maintain a suitable gradient for efficient operation of railway.

The longest tunnel will be 4.9 Km long between Jiribam-Tupul and 10.75 Km between Tupul-Imphal section.

While the high mountains are penetrated by constructing tunnels, the deep river gorges between the mountain ridges are connected by tall bridges.

The tallest of such bridges, near Noney, spans over a gorge with an overall length of about 700m.Railway had constituted an expert group to study possible alternative span arrangements of such tall bridges, considering the parameters like the length of span, type of span, location of the piers, constructability, serviceability, geological features, possible tectonic movement etc.

Based on the recommendations of the expert group, it was decided that main superstructures will be steel open web through type girders of 103.5m span (centre to centre of bearings).

The pillars are of reinforced cement concrete hollow type with the tallest pillar being 141m high.

The height of other piers of this bridge vary from 50m to 90m.The first phase of the project from Jiribam to Tupul (84 Kms), which include this bridge, is slated for completion by March 2016 .