Chenab River
The world's highest railway bridge, the Chenab bridge, was recently completed by Indian Railways. The rail link between Udhampur and Srinagar and Baramulla includes the bridge.
CHENAB RIVER
• The Chenab originates near the Bara Lacha Pass in the Zaskar Range's Lahul-Spiti region.
• The Chenab River is formed by the confluence of two rivers, Chandra and Bhaga rivers at Tandi. It falls in the Lahul and Spiti districts of the Upper Himachal Pradesh.
• It is also known as the Chandrabhaga in its upper reaches.
• It runs through J&K's Jammu area and into Pakistan's Punjab plains.
• According to the Indus Water Treaty, Pakistan is entitled to the Chenab's waters.
• On this river, the Baghliar Dam was built.
• Chenab Bridge, the world's highest railway bridge, spans the river in J&K.
CHENAB BRIDGE
• It is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project and is the world's tallest railway bridge (USBRL).
• In March 2002, the project was designated as a Project of National Importance.
• This bridge is 1,315 metres long and 359 metres above the riverbed level, making it the world's highest railway bridge.
• The installation of the steel arch is a significant step toward completing the 111-kilometer twisting section between Katra and Banihal.
• The Chenab Bridge was decided to be a wide span single steel arch bridge.
• To help reduce wind-induced stresses on the bridge, the chords of the trusses are sealed steel boxes that are internally reinforced and filled with concrete. Another benefit of concrete filling is that it eliminates the need for interior painting.
• The use of continuous construction has reduced the number of bearings, particularly on the approach viaduct. This is beneficial since it minimises maintenance and inspection efforts while also improving ride quality. Concrete piers support the viaduct, while steel piers support the arch.
• Fatigue, global stability, second order effects, composite action, and other factors were be taken into account while designing massive arch rail bridges.
• For the enormous spans of the Chenab Bridge were deemed to be insufficient according to the Indian building standards such as the Indian Railway Standards (IRS), the Indian Road Congress (IRC), and the Indian Standards (IS).
• Some of the design concerns that were taken into account were as follows:
o Limit State design philosophy has been selected to be followed in accordance with BS regulations.
o Wind load effects computation based on wind tunnel tests
o Use of a blast-resistant design
o Checking for tiredness in accordance with BS codes
o Redundancy is built into the structures to allow for a reduced level of operation in the event of a disaster and to protect against collapse in the event of a single pier failure.
• The bridge is built to resist winds of up to 266 km/h.
• For the first time in India, a bridge was designed for blast loads in conjunction with the DRDO.
• In India, the bridge is intended to withstand earthquakes of the maximum intensity zone-V.
• The Phased Array Ultrasonic Testing machine was utilised for the first time on Indian Railways to test welds.
• The National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) for the first time approved facility constructed at the site for weld testing.
• State-of-the-art instrumentation is used to plan extensive health monitoring and warning systems.