Jammu, 28 April (HS): Expediting the completion process, all 96 cables are fully installed in the Anji Khad cable-stayed rail bridge, the first such bridge in Indian Railways.

The Anji bridge is designed with a total 96 cables— 48 cables each on lateral and central spans. “The cables totally weigh 848.7 metric tonnes with total length of cable strands involved running into 653 kilometres,” the official said.

A crucial bridge in the Kashmir rail link project, cables were installed in a record time period of 11 months from June 2022 to April 2023 despite constraints.

As on date, 44 out of total 47 segments have been launched which require support of stay cables. Now, the balance three segments shall be launched without stay cables as per the design.

After missing multiple deadlines, including those in 2017 and 2022, the project costing over ₹400 crore, India’s first cable-stayed rail bridge will be ready in May this year.

Twenty years and in the making, the delayed construction of the Anji Khad bridge, a crucial connector for the passage of a train between Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), is a major chink in the armour of the Indian Railways’ ambitious plan to seamlessly connect Kashmir to the rest of India.

The total length of the bridge is 725 metres, which includes a 473- metre-long asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, balanced on the axis of a central pylon at 193 metres height from the top of the foundation, standing at a height of 331 metres (nearly 77 storeys) above the river-bed.

The project is commissioned by the Northern Railways and is being executed by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and Hindustan Construction Company.

The bridge connects tunnel T2 on Katra side to tunnel T3 on Reasi in Jammu & Kashmir on the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line project.

Hindusthan Samachar/ Krishan/Manoj