With the lift span mechanism completed, Southern Railway successfully conducted a trial run on the new Pamban railway sea bridge on Sunday evening. An OHE (overhead equipment) tower car was operated across the bridge to Rameswaram station.
The installation of the center lift span was finished in late July, followed by the completion of track connections at both ends of the Pamban bridge last week. The OHE tower car’s trial run on the new bridge was the first since 2022.
Visuals of trial run of tower car
The Ministry of Railways also shared a glimpse of the trail run and tweeted, “New Pamban Bridge nearing the finish line! A successful trial run of tower car was recently conducted on India’s first vertical lift Railway sea bridge.”
New Pamban Bridge likely to be ready by September
According to multiple media reports, the railway authorities are expediting the remaining work to ensure the bridge is ready before September, with plans to resume train services to Rameswaram starting October 1.
Train services on the old Pamban railway sea bridge were suspended and eventually halted in December 2022 due to excessive vibrations detected by monitoring equipment from IIT Madras. Construction of the new Pamban bridge began in 2019.
All you need to know about new Pamban Railway Bridge
- The new bridge will have 100 spans of 18.3 meters each and one navigational span of 63 meters. It will be 3.0 meters higher than the old bridge, providing a navigational air clearance of 22.0 meters above sea level.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the construction of the new Pamban Railway Bridge in November 2019. Rail Vikas Nigam Limited began the project in February 2020.
- The original completion date was December 2021. However, the deadline was extended due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Spanning 2.05 kilometers, the new bridge is designed to support higher-speed train operations and improve connectivity between the Indian mainland and Rameswaram Island.
- Before a road bridge was built in 1988, the old railway bridge was the only link between Mandapam and Rameswaram Island in the Gulf of Mannar.
- The previous bridge had a vertical clearance of just 1.5 meters from the high-tide level to the girder bottom, leading to frequent sea water splashing. Due to its limited residual life, Southern Railways opted to build a new bridge with a navigational lift span.
- The substructure is designed to support double rail lines, aligning with the railways’ electrification plans.
- Train services between Mandapam and Rameswaram Island were suspended on December 23, 2022, when the 1913-built old bridge was declared unsafe.