At a height of 359 metre over the river Chenab, taller than the Eiffel tower in Paris, the Chenab bridge is the world’s highest railway bridge.
The arch bridge will connect Bakkal and Kauri villages in Reasi district of Jammu division in Jammu and Kashmir. The engineering marvel lies in the seismic zone IV, and can withstand earthquakes up to a magnitude of 8 on the Richter scale, high-intensity blasts, and winds up to speeds of 260 kilometre per hour.
The bridge, expected to become functional later this year, is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project of the Indian Railways. Passing through difficult mountainous terrain, the project includes several major bridges and tunnels, including the Pir Panjal tunnel — India’s longest railway tunnel at over 11 kilometre in length. The USBRL aims at connecting J&K’s summer capital Srinagar with the rest of India’s rail network.
