The ¡®goldenjoint¡¯ of the Chenab railway bridge, connecting two ends of the deck of theworld¡¯s highest railway bridge, was unveiled in Jammu and Kashmir¡¯s Reasidistrict on Saturday.
The bridge will provide direct connectivity to rest of the world with Kashmir valley.
The unveilingof the overarch deck saw bursting of firecrackers and people from differentparts of the country singing the national anthem and chanting ¡®Bharat Mata KiJai¡¯ on it.
¡°This is ahistoric moment,¡± a senior official told PTI, adding that the completion of the¡®golden joint¡¯ has been a long journey.
The term ¡®golden joint¡¯ was coined by the civil engineers who worked on connecting the two ends of the deck of the bridge, he said.
Roughly, the1.3-km bridge, which is being constructed at a cost of Rs 1,250 crore, is 98per cent complete with the completion of the ¡®golden joint¡¯, officials said.
The bridge is located 359 m above the Chenab riverbed and is 30 m higher than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, they said.
The bridgeforms a crucial link in the 111-km stretch from Katra to Banihal, which is partof the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla section of the Kashmir Railway project, theofficials said as per PTI.
Forconstructing the bridge, pylons were erected on either side of the river andtwo auxiliary self-propelled cable cranes were used to tow temporary auxiliaryropes across these pylons, according to the officials.
More than 1,300workers and 300 engineers have been working round the clock to complete thebridge, the officials said.
Theconstruction started in 2004 but the work was stopped in 2008-09 to considerthe aspect of safety of rail passengers in view of frequent high velocity windsin the area, they said.
Once completed,the bridge will be able to withstand winds with speeds up to 260 kmph and willhave a lifespan of 120 years.
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