Test lifting of Pamban bridge to link Rameswaram island with mainland successful

Chennai: In the final step towards resuming rail connectivity between Rameswaram island and the Indian mainland, the test lifting of India’s first vertical lift rail bridge, popularly known as the Pamban Bridge, has been completed successfully by the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).

RVNL, which is executing the project on behalf of Southern Railway, conducted the first test on Tuesday night and will continue with trials for the next 10 days before rail traffic on the 2.07-km bridge between Pamban and Rameswaram is thrown open for the public.

“It is a major development. The test lifting of the rail bridge to let large boats pass is a success. This paves the way for opening of the bridge,” a senior railway official told DH. Though there is no official word on the inauguration,

The new bridge built in the sea will replace the 110-year-old iconic Cantilever bridge, which was closed for traffic in December 2022 after cracks were found. The Cantilever bridge, whose spans lifted both sides to allow large boats and ships to pass through the Pamban coast, was a major tourist attraction.

The new structure, which will be the country’s first vertical lift sea bridge, will have 100 spans with 99 spans of 18.3m length and one navigational span of 72.5m length across the sea and the sub-structure is being built for an additional railway track in case there is a need for doubling of the tracks in the future.

Trains to Rameswaram island are now terminated 20 km away at Mandapam railway station, from where devotees and tourists avail bus or cabs to reach the island. Before a road bridge was constructed in 1988, trains were the only source of transport other than boats to reach Rameswaram island from the Indian mainland.

The vertical lift span, which has been fabricated away from the sea coast and approved by RDSO (Research Designs and Standards Organisation), has been launched for 200 metres in the sea and will cover the remaining 228 metres of the total 428 metres in the coming weeks.

Three meters higher than the existing Cantilever bridge, which was built in 1914 during the British regime, work on the new bridge started in 2020 and it got delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic and a slew of challenges since the structure is being constructed in the sea off the Pamban coast.

The old structure was severely damaged by a cyclone in 1964 that flattened the tiny island of Dhanuskodi, but was restored in a record 46 days by a team of engineers led by then young E Sreerdharan, now known as India’s ‘Metro Man.’