The Hindu Business Line : Railways clears last hurdle on Jammu-Udhampur line

IT took six years, but the Railways have finally bridged river Gambhir, about 40 km from here, paving the way for completion of the Jammu-Udhampur section of the Rs 6,000-crore `Kashmir Link Project.'

"With the girder of the Gambhir bridge crossing the gorge, we hope to lower it into its correct place in the next couple of days and complete the 55-kilometre section within the next fortnight," a senior Railway official told Business Line.

Adverse weather conditions had delayed the completion of the 284-metre-long bridge, which presented a major technical challenge to Railway and Larsen and Toubro engineers working on the project. The section was to be completed by mid-March but has been delayed by a month.

"The Gambhir bridge presented a challenge from the foundation stage itself. A crack in the earth was detected when we started laying the foundation for the bridge. Sonar tests confirmed a deep fault, which forced us to relocate the foundation and change the bridge from a pre-stressed concrete to a steel structure," according to the Northern Railway General Manager, Mr R.R. Jharuhar.

As the area falls under Zone V of seismic activity, the 1,735-tonne bridge has been built to withstand an earthquake of up to 6.0 on the Richter scale, he said.

The Railways have already applied for clearance from the Commissioner of Railway Safety, North Zone, for the new line.

"We will start running trains on the track from April 12. Later, as soon as the safety clearance is obtained, the track will be thrown open for passenger traffic," Mr Jharuhar said.

The Railways have already identified five trains that will be extended up to Udhampur once the new line comes up. "The first passenger train to be flagged off on the track will be the Udhampur-New Delhi Sampark Kranti Express," Mr Jharuhar said.

`Sampark Kranti Express' was the new series of superfast trains connecting important state capitals with the national capital announced by the Railway Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, in his Interim Budget speech this year.

The 290-kilometre Kashmir Link Project is arguably the most difficult railway project ever attempted in the country. It will have 783 bridges and 109 kilometres of tunnels. The highest bridge, spanning 1.4 kilometres and stayed over cables over the Chenab, would be 383 metres high and the longest tunnel would be 11.43 kilometres. There will also be a 77-metre high bridge on piers that would even dwarf the Qutub Minar.

The Railway Board Chairman, Mr R.K. Singh, dismisses allegations that work on the project, likely to be completed by 2007, is progressing at a snail's pace.

"Till now, we have had the problem of funds. But the present Government has ensured that funds are not a constraint for the prestigious national project. A minor delay of a month or so is not such a big issue for a project of such magnitude and technical difficulties," Mr Singh said.

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