Rail Minister reviews USBRL project, Chenab Bridge Arch to be completed by March, 2021
Piyush Goyal, Minister for Railways and Commerce & Industry and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution reviewed the progress of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link Project (USBRL) today.
Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail link Project (USBRL) having length of 272 Km long Railway Line from Udhampur to Baramulla joining the Kashmir valley with rest of the country is a National Project. Out of 272 Km of USBRL Project, work has been completed and commissioned on 161 Km length. Udhampur – Katra -25km (commissioned in July 2014), Quazigund – Baramulla – 118km (commissioned in Oct., 2009) and Banihal – Quazigund – 18km (commissioned in June 2013). The work on intervening stretch of Katra-Banihal section (111 km) is in progress and this section predominantly involves tunnelling work i.e. 97 Km out of 111 Km (i.e. 87%) of length of Katra-Banihal section is in tunnels.
There are 27 nos. of Main tunnel having length of about 97.6 Km and 8 nos. of Escape tunnel having length of 66.4 km. Thus, the cumulative length of 164 Km of tunneling is being constructed on Katra- Banihal section.
At present, about 136Km of tunnelling i.e. 83Km (20 nos.) out of 97Km (27nos.) of Main tunnel and 55 Km (3 nos.) out of 66.4 Km (8 nos.) have been completed.
There are 37nos. of Bridges (combined length of 7 Km) which includes 26 nos. major bridges and 11 nos. minor bridges.
At present 12 nos. of major bridges and 10 nos. minor bridges have been completed and work on all fronts are in full swing.
These bridges include the iconic Chenab Bridge (Overall length 1315 m, Arch span of 467 m and height of 359 m above river bed) which will be the highest railway bridge in the world. Arch Launching of Chenab bridge is in progress and 516 m out of 550m have been completed and only 34m of Arch launching is left. Arch is planned for closure in March 2021.
Indian railway’s first cable stayed bridge is also being constructed on Anji Khad and 120 m of Main Pylon out of 193m has been cast and an ancillary viaduct portion of Anji Bridge has been completed.
Launching of Other Major bridges 39 & 43 is in progress and 191m and 141m of launching have been completed respectively in these major bridges.
Remarkable progress made in post covid Lockdown
T74R Tunnel near Banihal area in Ramban district : Escape Tunnel of 7.4 Km length made through on 05.12.2020 and Main Tunnel of 8.6 Km length made through on 03.10.2020. Which is 2nd Longest Tunnel constructed on USBRL project after Pir Panjal Tunnel (11.2 Km).
Main tunnel of T2 of 5.2km in Reasi district was made through in the month of Aug .2020.
Chenab Bridge- Launching of Arch segment: 373 MT (29m) done in Dec 2020 and 380 MT (24m) in the current month Jan 2021 (up to 21/01/2021).Arch launching of 3262MT was carried out in post covid lockdown. Arch Launching of about 516 m out of 550m ( curved length ) have been completed and only 34m of Arch launching is left. Arch is planned for closure in March 2021
Anji Bridge –Main Pylon concreting:12m lift for U/S (Upstream) & 4m lift for D/S (Downstream) cast in Dec 2020 and 4m lift for D/S cast in Jan 2021 (upto 21st). 69 m of Main pylon has been cast and ancillary viaduct portion completed in post covid lockdown. Thus ,120 m of Main Pylon out of 193m has been cast and ancillary viaduct portion of Anji Bridge has been completed.
At Br. 39 in Reasi area, launching of 24m length done in Dec. 20 and 48m in Jan 2021 (upto 21st ). Thus the overall launching of 191m has been achieved till now. This entire launching has been executed in post covid lockdown.
Bridge No. 43 in Bakkal (Reasi) area, launching of 21.5m length done in Dec. 2020 and 20m in Jan 2021 (upto 21st). Thus the overall launching of 141m has been achieved till now. This entire launching has been executed in post covid lockdown.
Total Tunnel Mining of 1720 m (MT +ET) done in Dec.2020 and 927m in Jan.2021(upto 21st). About 11.3 km of tunnelling work completed in post covid lockdown. Thus the overall tunnelling of about 136km out of 164km tunnelling has been completed.
Electrification of Banihal- Baramulla section:
The 136 km railway line from Banihal to Baramulla has already been commissioned and its electrification work is in progress. All tenders have been awarded and S&T plan have also been approved and work is under progress in full swing. The target for completion of Railway Electrification works in Banihal-Baramulla section is March-2022.
Due to inclement weather, frequent landslides & washouts, snowfall & rainfalls in the month of Jan 2021 in Reasi and Ramban districts, which resulted in cutoffs of the National highway 44 and approach road to the project sites, thereby affecting the progress of work. However, all safety precautions were taken at sites and work is progressing in full swing at all fronts.
Expressing satisfaction on the progress the project MR said that, the aspirations of the people of Jammu & Kashmir has to be fulfilled by completing the project so that the region gets a good transportation system to remain connected to the rest of the country all the year round. He called upon the engineers working on the project to expedite the remaining portion on mission mode. He also instructed them to complete the procurement of materials and permission procedures on time so that there is no delay in the construction of the line.
