India’s Tallest Rail Bridge Stands Strong on SAIL’s 16,000-Tonne Steel Supply

Image Source: News Riverting

The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has played a key role in the construction of the world’s tallest railway bridge over the Chenab River in Jammu & Kashmir, supplying a massive 16,000 tonnes of steel for the project. This bridge, which now stands 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower, is a major milestone in India’s infrastructure journey and a symbol of the country’s engineering capabilities.

Key Highlights:

SAIL’s Bhilai Steel Plant contributed the lion’s share, supplying 12,432 tonnes of steel, including TMT bars, plates, and structural steel.
The remaining steel came from SAIL’s IISCO Steel Plant at Burnpur, Durgapur Steel Plant, Rourkela Steel Plant, and Bokaro Steel Ltd.
The total steel supplied included 6,690 tonnes of TMT products, 1,793 tonnes of structural steel, and 7,511 tonnes of steel plates, hot strip mill products, and chequered plates.
The Chenab rail bridge is 1.3 kilometres long and has been designed to withstand wind speeds up to 266 kmph and the highest intensity earthquakes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the bridge, along with other major development projects, and flagged off the first train service to the Kashmir Valley.
The bridge is a crucial part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link project, promising to boost connectivity and economic development in the region.

The construction of the bridge involved advanced engineering, with the use of about 29,000 metric tonnes of steel in total, 10 lakh cubic metres of earthwork, and more than 66,000 cubic metres of concrete.

Source: Business Standard, Economic Times, Indian Masterminds, News Riveting, The Week