Construction Of New 2.05 Km Pamban Bridge Commences, To Be Completed In 2 Years

Construction of the state-of-the-art new Pamban bridge to replace the existing century-old iconic British structure between Pamban and Rameswaram began with a ground breaking ceremony and laying of simulation foundation pillar on Friday (8 November), The Tmes Of India reported.

The work would be completed in 2 years.

A ‘bhoomi pooja’ was performed to mark the inauguration of the construction work on the bridge to be built by the Railway Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL). Ranjith Buildcon Ltd will be executing the project under the supervision of RVNL

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone for the new bridge to be constructed at Rs 250 crore in March.

The existing bridge is 2,058 metres-long. It has been used for more than a hundred years and has been non-operational for the past few years.

The new bridge will have a 63-metre stretch which will lift, while remaining parallel to the deck allowing access to the ships. It will have 100 spans of 18.3 metres and one navigational span of 63 metres. The new bridge would have 101 piers with a vertical lift facility to open and close the middle portion to allow passage of ships and steamers.

To be build the first vertical-lift bridge connecting Rameswaram to the mainland, it will allow ships and steamers to pass through without any hindrance.

The vertical-lift bridge will be three metres higher than the existing bridge with a navigational air clearance of 22 metres above sea level. It will be operated using an electro-mechanical control system which will be interlocked with train control systems, according to the Mint report.

Pamban bridge is manually operated, in which ‘Scherzer’ rolling lift technology opens the bridge up horizontally.

The Pamban bridge used to be the only link between Rameswaram and the mainland until 1988 when a road bridge, running parallel to it, was built. Earlier, it used to transport hundreds of pilgrims everyday to the temple in the island.