New Delhi, November 28 (IANS). Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Thursday said the Railways will investigate the comments of the Southern Circle Railway Safety Commissioner regarding the new Pamban Bridge located in Tamil Nadu’s Ramanathapuram district. A committee has been formed for this.
The Commissioner of Railway Safety had pointed out some shortcomings in the planning for the construction of the new Pamban Railway Bridge and its implementation.
Vaishnav said that the new Pamban Bridge is a 2.05 km long bridge with 72 meter vertical lift span. This is the first bridge of its kind in the country. The design of this steel bridge has been prepared by TYPSA International Consultant. European and Indian codes have been used in its design.
He further said that its design has been proof checked by IIT Chennai. Apart from this, additional proof check has also been done by Railways from IIT Mumbai.
According to the Union Minister, the design of the bridge was approved by Southern Railways only after double proof checking. The bridge has been constructed based on the design of a reputed international consultant duly vetted by two of the most prominent institutions of the country.
The new Pamban Bridge connects Mandapam to Pamban. With this, devotees going to Rameshwaram Dham can easily reach their destination. It is built right next to the old Pamban Bridge. The train will run at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour on this bridge. The special thing about this bridge is that it is a vertical railway bridge and at the time of no train traffic, ships can also move from below by lifting the slab of the bridge.
Two railway tracks have been laid on the new Pamban Bridge, whereas the old bridge is of single line. The depth of pillars in the new bridge is 35 meters. In the old bridge, a normal span is 12 meters i.e. the distance between two pillars is 12 meters, whereas in the new bridge this distance has been kept at 18 meters.
–IANS
ABS/GKT
