India’s First Vertical Lift Bridge

India is all set to inaugurate its first vertical life railway bridge in Rameshwaram. It is called Pamban Bridge and is located in the state of Tamil Nadu. This bridge is located in a very crucial spot where the seaways coincide with the rail lines. The construction of this India's 1st vertical lift railway sea bridge will establish a foundation of unhindered conveyance of ferries, ships, and other watercraft as the bridge can dislocate its joints and lift itself to create a passage. Let us learn more about this bridge, engineering, and its importance.

What is a Vertical Lift Bridge?

This is an engineering marvel in the modern-day world. A vertical lift bridge is a section of a communication bridge that lifts its part using engineered movable parts. A part of this bridge lifts itself up vertically without any angular motion; rather, a parallel uplifting of a section occurs. This type of bridge offers immense benefits to the seaways of a river, sea, or estuaries.

Engineers construct this type of bridge using counterweights to move it up and down and create a temporary passage for sea vehicles to enter a port. The movable part rises up to a designated height, and the passage is created. Despite the dislocation of this part of a vertical lift bridge, it can still carry the weight of road vehicles running over it. In fact, India's 1st vertical lift railway sea bridge will also be able to carry a load of trains (passenger and carriage) passing on it. Imagine the load this bridge can counter even though a part of it gets dislocated from the main bridge and lifted up.

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Pamban Bridge: India’s Engineering Marvel in Rameshwaram

Rameshwaram is a city in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is also a pilgrimage site situated close to Dhanuskodi. A bridge already exists that connects Pamban Island with Mandapam. This bridge was constructed by the British Empire and was inaugurated on 24th February 1914. It was an engineering marvel as the engineers used their primitive knowledge that still exists even after a century of carrying trains on it.

It was the longest sea bridge built on the sea before the Bandra-Worli Sea Link was established in the year 2010. This bridge connecting Pamban to the mainland is a tourist attraction as only a single train line exists, letting trains cross amidst the sea. It was the only means of transport that connected the island of Rameshwaram with the mainland of Tamil Nadu till 1988. A road bridge was constructed parallel to this railway bridge for ease of transport.

The construction of the new vertical lift bridge in this line will be a brilliant construction milestone as it will create a passage to the sea vehicles anytime without disrupting the railway connection with the islands.

Development of India’s First Vertical Lift Bridge in Pamban

This new bridge will automatically escalate the convenience of creating a passage underneath for the sea vehicles to pass. The trains will also be able to cross when the vertical bascule comes and down and reconnects with the main bridge. This project was initiated by Piyush Goyal. It is 2.07 km long and will connect the islands of Rameshwaram and Pamban with the mainland of Tamil Nadu conveniently.

Another bridge on this route will create better communications with the mainland. People will find exemplary convenience to visit these islands for pilgrimage, tourism, and business purposes. The old bridge will also be able to shed its load to a considerable extent. A new connection will deliver ease of movement from the mainland to the islands.

The engineering technology used will create a partition in a particular section of this new bridge. This partition can be lifted, and the entire bridge will be disconnected to create a temporary seaway for the vehicles. This temporary passage will let the ships, ferries, and other sea vehicles pass easily. Once all the barges and ships pass, this part of the bridge will come down to its resting position and reconnect with the bridge. Once reconnected, this bridge will relieve the traffic waiting to go to the other sides.

The construction of this bridge will deliver immense benefits to the seaways India has surrounding the coasts of Tamil Nadu. Before the construction of this bridge, the century-old Pamban Bridge had to suffer an entire load of railway communication on its single-line track. The British Empire started its construction back in 1911 and inaugurated it in 1914. It took only three years for the British colonial rule to give shape to such an engineer marvel.

Why is the New Pamban Bridge Constructed?

As mentioned earlier, the old bridge is over a century old. Its construction ended in the year 1914, and since then, it is still operational without causing any major damage to conveyance to the islands. Once, one of its bascules was damaged in December 2018. It resulted in the interruption of the communication between the mainland of Tamil Nadu and the designated islands for three months.

After 3 months of extensive repair work, the bridge became operational on 27th February 2019. All the threats were eliminated regarding the damages that occurred in the bridge. It is a heritage that has to be restored by the Government of India. In order to reduce the pressure of railway connections on this age-old bridge, a new bridge is being constructed in the same route to connect these islands and also to deliver a passage for the barges and ships approaching from the sea route.

To introduce road connectivity, a new bridge was constructed and was named Annai Indira Gandhi Road Bridge. This bridge connects NH 49 and Rameshwaram Island. This road bridge was inaugurated by the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the year 1988. This bridge connects the mainland of Mandapam with the island of Pamban, located in the Palk Strait on the Indian Ocean.

Despite the presence of these two old bridges, a new bridge is required. The length of this new bridge is 2.07 km and will connect the designated islands with the mainland. The features of the new railway bridge suggest that it can tolerate trains passing at a higher speed. The old one is not capable of tolerating the vibrations of fast-moving trains. In order to hasten the communication speed between the mainland and the islands, this new Pamban Bridge is being constructed on the same route with a vertical lift.

It has followed the latest ‘Scherzer' rolling lift technology that enables a part of it vertically raise the required height of 63 meters and come down when the ships, barges, and vessels have passed. This bridge has a total of 100 spans. Each span is 18.3 meters in length.

The significance of Rameshwaram Island as a pilgrimage site is quite huge. Devotees and tourists visit this location in a flock every year. As the climatic conditions of this part of India are almost the same across the year, tourists visit almost all the time to enjoy the bliss of passing through the old heritage bridge on a train and visit the temples in the islands.

Previously, there was no vertical lift system in the old railway bridge and the road bridge. This is why the Government of India initiated this project to construct this new bridge with a vertical lift. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched this project back in 2019, and it is under construction. This is the reason why is the new Pamban Bridge constructed. The total cost of this project is INR 240 Crore.

Study this article related to the new Pamban vertical lift Bridge and understand its features. It will add more convenience to the sea route and the rail route connecting the mainland of Tamil Nadu and the islands in the Palk Strait.