Prayagraj: Placement of girders on double track rail bridge over Ganga complete

The travel time by train between the significant holy cities of Prayagraj and Varanasi is expected to decrease after the completion of the second bridge over the Ganga. This bridge is being built adjacent to the existing Shashtri railway bridge which currently connects Daraganj with Jhunsi.

Being constructed by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), this second railway bridge over Ganga is an open web bridge. Of the 24 spans, the last girder of the bridge has been put in place recently, informed officials.

The entire track, spanning from Daraganj station over this bridge and up to Jhunsi railway station will be operational expectedly by December 2024. The railway track between both sides of Ganga will be double line, making train movement faster, officials added.

Project director, RVNL, Vinay Kumar Agarwal said, “This bridge is 1,937 m long and there are a total of 24 spans, each measuring 76.2 m and the weight of each of the 24 girders is 580 tonnes.”

“We have plugged the bottom of the foundation so that no water can enter the foundation well and after proper testing, the pier bars were constructed,” said Agarwal.

The bridge was to be completed in December 2023, but because of the delay in handing over the defence land, there has been a delay. Moreover, despite several constraints, including Magh Mela, the impact of floods, Kanwar yatra etc, the bridge has been completed in 16 months, said Agarwal.

The project manager said that this bridge had been a training ground for several budding civil engineers as they were visiting the site to learn how such a bridge is constructed.

Interestingly, the construction continued even during the floods as the officials installed a special crane operating from above the girder. All the materials and construction items were fed from the Jhunsi end of the bridge and the engineers and supporting staff continued the work.

“Because of the timely completion of the bridge, the cost, which was ₹500 crores, has not escalated the budget”, said the project director.

Although the bridge over Ganga has been completed, the work is still on to connect Daraganj to Jhunsi wherein 21 spans from Darganj side and nine from Jhunsi side are being put up.