Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated multiple projects in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, including the Chenab bridge, the world's highest single-arch railway bridge yet. Taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the inauguration of the bridge will mark the successful completion of what has been billed as the biggest civil-engineering challenge by any railway project in India's recent history. Approved in 2003 and contracted in 2008, after much worries over its safety and stability, the single-arch bridge over River Chenab in J&K passed all its mandatory tests and is set to mark India on the railroad history after two decades of waiting. Here is all you need to know about India's most recent feat in civil-engineering. The arch bridge runs between Bakkal and Kauri in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, and forms a crucial link from Katra to Banihal. It stands at the height of 1,178 feet above the riverbed, making it 35 metres taller than Paris' tourist icon, the Eiffel Tower. The bridge is part of the Rs 35000 crore Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) project which aims to boost connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir by providing connectivity in complex topography and weather conditions. However, by itself, the Chenab bridge cost around Rs 14,000 crore. According to a video released by the Indian Railways, the Chenab bridge falls under the ambitious project of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat which aims to connect Kashmir to the other states in the country The tests ensuring the stability and safety of the world's highest bridge include high-velocity winds test, extreme temperatures test, earthquake-prone test and hydrological impacts due to water level increase. The bridge is expected to have a shelf life of around 120 years. It will also be able to withstand winds with speeds up to 260 km/per hour. The bridge has a 2015 km long approach road and is designed to be earthquake resistant, according to another video posted by the Northern Railways. It has taken enginners three years to build the arch of the bridge with the help of two mammoth cable cranes which had been installed on both banks of the Chenab, the Kauri end and the Bakkal end. This railway line shall also prove useful for the armed forces deployed in this geographically important region and also help boost tourism, stated the Indian Railways video. For the people of Jammu and Kashmir, the bridge comes after a long wait of two decades as the project has missed several deadlines after getting its first approval in 2003. Vande Bharat Metro train will run between Jammu and Srinagar once the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project becomes fully operational. PM Modi will inaugurate multiple other projects While the Chenab bridge might be the centre of Tuesday's attractions, PM Modi is set to inaugurate several other projects aross the country worth Rs 32,000 crore, especially in Jammu and Kashmir. Five years after laying the foundation stone to AIIMS Jammu in 2019, PM Modi will be inaugurating it on Tuesday. Moreover, the prime minister will also be laying the foundation stone of a new terminal building at the Jammu Airport and Common User Facility Petroleum depot. In a futher boost to the state, the PM will be laying the foundation stone to and inaugurating several projects for urban and infrastructural development. To bolster education in the nation, some of the projects the PM will be inaugurating are the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bhilai, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Tirupati, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing (IITDM), Kurnool, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Jammu, and Indian Institute of Skills (IKS), Kanpur, among others.
