Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link

World’s Highest Railway bridge in India(Kashmir)

Introduction

Jammu and Kashmir has limited surface accessibility to the rest of the country.

Providing a reliable transport system crossing major earthquake zones which is subjected to extreme temperatures making it the most difficult railway project taken in India.

Already existing road link is 350 km long – NH 1 A.Rail link : 345 km in length running from Jammu to Baramulla.Declared as a Project of national importance in 2002. Facing many problems in completion and the project estimated cost is

escalated to many folds.scheduled date of completion was 15 August 2007 but now

deadline pushed to 2017.

Trail run from Qazigund to Banihal : Train emerges from India’s longest railway tunnel in the Pir Panjal range during its trial run on 28th Dec 2012.

Railway link in Kashmir valley :

Objectives

Reducing the travel time to various destinations in the valley considerably.

All weather transportation system that could function in adverse weather conditions.

Socio-economic development of the state.

Employment generation.Construction of access roads

which would connect many villages and of course.

Increase the number of tourists visiting the Paradise.

Project Breakdown

The project is divided into four sections:Leg 0 – It extends 53 km from Jammu to Udhampur which was completed

in April 2005.Leg 1 – It extends 25 km from Udhampur to Katra which is under

construction.Leg 2 – extending 129 km from Katra to Qazigund which is under

construction and may open in 2017. Execution was started in 2003.Leg 3 – extending 119 km from Qazigund to Baramulla which was

completed in October 2009.

Item Udhampur -Katra Katra- Qazigund Qazigund -Baramulla

Route length( km) 25 129 119

Bridges 38 62 811

Tunnels Length( km) 10.90 103.00 0

Max height of bridge (m) 85 359 22

Longest tunnel( km) 3.15 10.96 -

stations 3 12 15

Geological Features

Heterogeneous soil near portals to trap and Quartzite in the middle. Fault zones encountered. Limestone region encountered where heavy water inflow can occur. The general trend of mountain range and strike direction of bedding

is NW-SE. Folding is there in central areas. The types of rocks are mainly limestone, andesite, basalt, quartzite

and sandstone.

Design of tunnelsNormal tunnels adopted by railways – D shape for single broad

gauge line.Improvised design – Elliptical shape (300 % more efficient than D

type).For tunnels of length > 3 km – Horse shoe section with 3 m wide

jeepable pathway for rescue operations.

LINES : Some of the yards have either ends in tunnels for which two line or three line sections will be designed.

Project management

The project is being implemented by three principal agencies: Northern Railway Construction Organisation (NRCO) Konkan Railway Construction Limited (KRCL)IRCON International Limited

The railway Board is responsible for technical guidance and co-ordination of overall progress.

The project is funded by the Govt. of India and the Ministry of Finance is responsible for providing finances.

KRCL is in the charge of the Katra-Laole section which is the toughest portion of the line with most of the line comprising of either tunnels or bridges.

HCC constructed the Banihal Tunnel, 11.215 km long, across the Pir Panjal range. AFCONS with Ultra Engineering will design and construct the Chenab Bridge for US$130

million. Gammon India with Archirodon Construction will build the Anji Khad Bridge for US$100

million.

Most Challenging part of the Project

Chenab Bridge.Pir Panjal Tunnel. Anjikhad Bridge.

All of the three lies in Katra – Qazigund section which consists of : Length = 142 km. Major bridges = 62. ; Minor bridges = 132. Tunnels = 84. Track in tunnels = 63 %. ; Track on bridges = 11.45 % . No. of Station = 12.

Chenab BridgeMega bridge over Chenab river has been planned near Salal

village.The rail height from the river bed will be 359 m which will

make it the tallest rail bridge in the world. The main arch will have a span of 465 m which gives

another distinction to this bridge being the longest single span railway arch bridge in the world.

A very elaborate procedure has been followed as there is no Indian Code for designing mega structures.

Since the area is prone to terrorist attacks, the blast load has been taken into consideration for design.

Chenab bridge proposed design

Pir Panjal Tunnel (T-80)

It is 11 km long aligned in almost N-S direction. The method for tunnelling used is NATM (New Austrian

Tunneling Method). The tunnel is the longest in India and the third longest in Asia. It is lower than the existing road tunnel and will be much less

vulnerable to snow.Problems in using TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine)Portal areas are situated in fluvio-glacial sediments, i.e. soft

ground.No bidder was prepared to mobilize two TBMs.Fault zones hindered the use of TBM.In the limestone region, high squeezing would lead to heavy

water inflow.

Socio-economic Impact of the ProjectReliable connectivity to far flung areas of Jammu and

Kashmir by rail.Construction of Access Roads: With the construction of

approach roads, many villages will get connected and would help in development of those areas.

Employment: The project would generate employment for local people as well as for others.

Permanent job in Railways to one of the family members whose more than 75% land has been acquired.

Conclusion

USBRL project was proposed to provide an adequate transport system which will be efficient in all the weather and to quash the travel time to cover the distance between Kashmir valley and rest of the country.

Most difficult projects , sensitive region with very weak support for logistics,

National importance and related difficulties associated with project, proper planning before execution is a must condition.

References

Northern Railway Construction Organization (USBRL Project)

www.usbrl.org Wikipedia :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_Valley

Merci